LJ and Zofia's RV Adventure
by PerkyGoth14
Summary: LJ and Zofia meet up with the gang to go on a trip for Thanksgiving when Susie gets a chance to preform in New York City, and her friends come along with her for the trip. It later becomes a mother/child trip when the moms decide to go along with their kids in a chance to bond with each other, but it proves to become a misadventure for all of them.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: My Mother's Day gift for you all. There ya go.**

* * *

As LJ had said, 10 years had passed in real time, and he and his friends were now 17; Tommy and the other Rugrats were now 11, Chuckie was 12, and Angelica was now 13. Eventually, Fall had rolled around and LJ and Ted (thanks to Lionel driving them there) met up with the others at the Java Lava.

"New York City," Lil commented. "This is BIG!"

"What's big?" asked LJ. "Hey, guys, we just got here, so could anyone care to fill me in?"

"Oh, hey, guys," Phil smiled. "You haven't heard? This is bigger than big!"

"It's as big as Dummi Bear's head from last year's parade!" Chuckie beamed as he looked at the TV.

"Sometimes I can't believe it." Susie smiled.

"Good... Good... That's nice... But if you won't mind..." Zofia smiled back before yelling out. "WHAT IS GOING ON THAT'S SO BIG?! ...You guys?" she then added with a sheepish smile.

"I am representing the American Cheese Council!" Susie announced before sighing happily in her chair. "Did you know cheese represents 0.7% to 2% of our gross national product?"

"Ya don't say..." LJ remarked.

"No..." Dil said.

"Really?" Lil asked dully.

"Fascinating." Phil smiled weakly as he sipped his drink.

"I'm gonna be in this year's parade in New York City." Susie told LJ and the others.

"Awesome!" LJ replied.

"Congratulations, Susie." Zofia smiled.

"Thanks, guys." Susie smiled back.

Angelica appeared to be smiling innocently like nothing was bothering her.

"Did you know that, Angelica?" Kimi asked about the fact Susie gave them.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't listening," Angelica replied as she stretched her hand before it seemed to tip Susie's drink onto her lap. "I was just admiring my cuticles, aren't they lovely? Oops!"

"Way to pay attention." LJ remarked sarcastically.

"You did that on purpose!" Kimberly glared to Angelica.

"Did what?" Angelica smiled innocently.

"Don't play innocent with me OR my girl, Pickles." LJ remarked.

"I wish you guys could come to New York to help cheer me on." Susie frowned as she cleaned up the mess, but Kimberly soon helped her out.

"New York City?" Angelica smiled. "That sure would take the sting out of narrowly missing the chance of singing in the parade."

"Now THAT sounds like an adventure!" LJ remarked. "My dad would be raring to go!"

"Might as well forget New York," Kimi sighed as it seemed unlikely of them going. "No way that's happening."

"I dunno, Kim, stranger things have happened," LJ explained. "Though I suppose I could try bringing Ted here with us. I'd have to discuss it with his mom and brothers."

"I just say good luck, it must be chaos in the McNulty house sometimes." Gaz commented.

"Like the Loud House?" LJ replied.

"Well, I'm saying with all those boys and only Mrs. McNulty..." Gaz shrugged. "Who knows what goes on down there?"

"Face it, we're not going anywhere." Kimi sighed as it seemed unlikely that they were going to New York.

Akito, Estelle, Lee, and Vincent soon rushed by with a soccer ball together outside of the Java Lava, laughing together.

"Or we could go with our cousins who have ties to New York City?" Zofia hinted to LJ once she saw them.

"Good idea..." LJ replied. "We can bring them with us!"

Zofia opened the door and called out. "Hey, guys!"

Vincent soon stopped and looked over which made him yelp as the others ran into him and they all ended up on the ground with him at the bottom with a groan.

"Hi guys..." LJ waved.

"Hey." Vincent muffled.

"Oh, hey, LJ." Akito smiled.

"Hi!" Estelle added.

"Sup?" Lee smirked.

"We were planning on going to New York 'cuz Suzie is gonna be in the Thanksgiving Parade!" LJ explained.

"Oh, you want a ride or something?" Akito smiled. "Our friend Eloise lives in New York City."

"Not to mention Vincent's girlfriend." Lee added as he helped up the brown-haired boy who was flattened slightly.

"Well, the title isn't RV Having Fun Yet for nothing." LJ replied.

"I suppose we could take you," Vincent said, dusting himself clean. "We are on vacation after all."

"Awesome!" LJ whooped.

* * *

However, as the older Rugrats were wishing to go to New York, their mothers were planning a special trip to bond with their children by going on a road trip there themselves. Lionel was reading comic books in the meantime.

"I'd love to come along." Cherry said.

"...But?" Betty replied.

"I promised Gomez and Morticia I'd help them out with something." Cherry said with a small pout.

"Hey, yeah," Lionel replied. "Haven't seen them in awhile!"

LJ and Zofia pouted as they overheard their parents as it almost sounded like they couldn't go on the trip with their friends to New York City.

"But hey, just cuz we hafta miss out doesn't mean the kids hafta!" Lionel replied.

LJ and Zofia smiled as they continued to listen in.

"And if they keep eavesdropping, I might have to change the WiFi password." Cherry smirked playfully.

Lionel chuckled as the two drew back from the door.

"Great for them, sure," David replied. "But what about yours truly?"

"Hmm... Well, you know you're too young to stay home by yourself, but can you promise me you'll behave for your brother and sister?" Cherry said to David.

"Okay, I promise." David replied.

"All right, David, you can go with them." Cherry then smiled.

"Aw, yeah!" David whooped.

"Just remember to behave." Cherry said.

"Yes, Mom." David smiled.

"Guess what?" Betty smiled as she came to the others. "We just decided to take all of you to New York City!"

"WOO-HOO!" The kids cheered.

"What's going on?" Tommy asked as he soon walked into the Java Lava.

"We're all going to see the Crazy Day Parade!" Chuckie gushed to his best friend.

"No way! That's wicked awesome!" Tommy smiled. "So how're we getting there? First Class, Sail Fair?"

"Dude, it's a road trip. We're going by RV!" Ted replied. "My bros are gonna be so jealous."

However, the others didn't look too excited about going on an RV.

"You've gotta be kidding." Angelica muttered.

"Just you and your mothers for a whole week!" Didi smiled as she slicked down Tommy's hair.

"Fan-tastic." Tommy groaned.

"Cheese!" Susie beamed.

Lucy soon took out her camera to take a group photo.

"I better call Jenny to let her know we're coming," Estelle smiled. "Hopefully she'll be there so we can go say hi if Eloise isn't traveling with her mother again."

"Alright." LJ replied.

The Fudos went home to make a phone call to New York City.

"Looks like we get to hit the road." Dib smiled to the others.

"And I get to meet some big city ladies." Raul smirked as he appeared.

"Who knows? Maybe Dib will meet someone for him," LJ shrugged. "Someone who's not Mandy."

"Yeah, that ought to be good." Dib replied.

"I guess you're over her then?" Zofia asked Dib.

"For right now, yes," Dib said. "I guess I was just interested in her for knowing the Grim Reaper when I first met her."

"Basically it was the whole supernatural aspect that drew him to her," LJ replied. "And then he realized what a jerk she was."

"Pretty much what I just said." Dib commented.

"Ah, you'll get there," Raul smirked. "Not everybody can be a pro like me."

The kids all rolled their eyes.

* * *

Later on, they came to look for the perfect RV to take on their trip.

"Whoa... Check out this one." Zofia smiled at the sight of an RV called The Caesar Supreme.

"Swank you very much!" David commented.

Tommy and Chuckie sat inside in front of the air conditioner.

"Sweet!" Tommy smiled.

Phil opened the fridge as Lil came inside with the others with her soccer ball.

"Guys! The bathroom has a spa tub!" Kimi called out from the bathroom.

"No way!" LJ remarked. "You gotta be BS-ing me!"

"Come over here!" Kimi called out to him.

LJ soon came into the bathroom and looked around for himself. "Whoa!"

"Unreal, banana peel!" LJ exclaimed.

Kimi beamed as she seemed to love it.

"I am finally beginning to understand the pioneer spirit." Chuckie smiled as he pushed some buttons.

"I wonder what this does?" Phil wondered as he pushed a button.

It made one side of the RV extend, then a TV screen came out from the ceiling. A two person bed even came out and two pieces of candy landed on the pillows. The fireplace soon began to roar and the microwave went off, and a soda popped out from one of the arm rests. This amazed everybody as this RV was very amazing.

"Check it out!" Dil smiled as he checked out the security footage with Ted. "We can see where we're going and where we've been at the same time! I've been training myself to do that for a full year!"

"Nifty..." Ted replied.

Dil soon tried to demonstrate only for his eyes to look different ways like a chameleon. "Uh, guys...?" he then called.

Angelica soon smacked the back of his head to put his pupils back to normal.

"Thanks!" Dil smiled to his older cousin.

"I'm kinda surprised you wanted to come on this trip, Angelica," Zofia commented. "What with Susie getting so much attention."

"Yeah. You don't seem like the type to be supportive of anyone other than yourself." LJ replied.

"Please, you guys!" Angelica glanced to them. "Susie is my friend! And I'd feel awful if something happened to prevent her from preforming in the parade!" she then smirked to the camera as Susie passed by the door and she opened it on her face... Only to see that she actually hit her mother instead. "I thought you were-"

Susie glanced over and crossed her arms.

"Never mind..." Angelica then said.

LJ and Zofia chuckled at that.

"Okay, show's over! Let's get rollin'!" Betty smiled as she helped up Charlotte. "We got an early start tomorrow, and I mean early!"

"Alright. Catch you all tomorrow!" LJ announced.

Everyone said goodbye as they split up to get ready for the big road trip.


	2. Chapter 2

When LJ, Zofia, and David came home, they saw their parents packing up to leave to visit the Addams Family.

"You two have fun." LJ remarked.

"Oh, thank you, dear," Cherry smiled. "Also, Aunt Selina won't be here either. She's gone with Bruce to a convention, so you kids have fun too."

"Okay!" David replied. "We're gonna be BIG!"

Cherry chuckled as she soon went to put her bags in the car once they were ready to go.

"Guys! Guys!" Estelle beamed as she ran over before stopping. "Oh, hi, Aunt Cherry."

"Hello, dear." Cherry replied.

Estelle looked back to her cousins. "Jenny and Eloise both said they could meet us at New York and we could have a party for Susie at Jenny's place," she then said. "You can meet Oliver, Georgette, and Dodger and Company!"

"Excellent!" David exclaimed as the McNultys arrived.

"Ah, the McNulty boys have arrived," Cherry greeted. "Hello there, boys."

"It's that crazy lady with the haunted house." Timmy whispered to his brothers.

"Hey, don't talk crap about my mom, you tool!" LJ snapped as he stepped out.

"What?! She is!" Timmy defended.

"That's okay, LJ, he's entitled to his own opinion," Cherry said, struggling getting her bag in the trunk. "Lionel!" she then cried out for help.

"I got it, hon." Lionel replied as he zapped the trunk and made it bigger.

"Fine, he's entitled to his opinion, which is totally stupid." LJ sighed.

Cherry soon put her bag in, breathing in relief once it was finally in.

"Timmy, don't be mean to my friend's mom." Ted pouted.

"Aw, Teddy, you know it's true," Timmy smirked. "She's always tryin' to scare us. I think she might be a witch that cooks kids like you!"

"Shut up, Timmy," LJ and David snapped. "My mom ain't a witch. You just been listening to a buncha crap!"

Timmy glared to him.

"Are you coming along for the trip tomorrow, Theodore?" Cherry smiled to the youngest McNulty boy who was being sweet and friendly, unlike his brothers.

"As a matter of fact, I am!" Ted replied. "And it's just Ted, or Theo, Ms. Schwartz."

"Oh, all right," Cherry smiled. "It'll be nice to have you aboard. LJ seemed so eager about having you come along. I'm sorry Mr. Schwartz and I can't join you, but we have an emergency with some friends of ours out of town."

"It's fine," Theo replied. "We'll be sure to keep you in our thoughts. Plus it'll be nice hanging with kids who don't constantly belittle me."

"We do not!" Timmy, Ty, Todd, and Terry glared at their younger brother.

"Suuuure ya don't," Theo replied. "It's gonna be nice to get some respect."

"Where's your mother?" Lionel asked the boys.

"Hospital," Terry said. "She had a doctor's appointment."

"And I wanted to tell LJ I could come over." Theo smiled to his new friend.

"And it's good to have you here, dude." LJ remarked, tussling his hair playfully.

Theo chuckled and smiled as he liked it when he did it.

"Meanwhile, until Mom comes back, we're gonna party!" Timmy grinned to his other brothers.

"Yeah!" The others whooped.

"I suggest you watch what you say, McNulty," LJ remarked. "People don't like it when others talk crap about their moms. Especially mine."

"Whatever," Timmy rolled his eyes. "Like anything will happen to me."

"Karma and payback's a bit when you least expect it." Cherry grinned maliciously in the background.

"If nothing happens to ya, I'm gonna MAKE sure something happens, you disrespectful little brat." LJ added.

Timmy narrowed his eyes.

"Okay, we're all packed up," Cherry said before holding out her arms. "Mother requests some goodbye hugs and kisses!"

And LJ, Zofia, and David gave their mom hugs and kisses. Cherry gave a rather bright smile as she hugged and kissed them back.

"See you guys when we get back." Lionel waved.

"Bye..." Zofia said softly before breaking out of the hug with her brothers. "Have fun."

"We plan to." Cherry smiled hopefully.

"Hopefully it's better than the time we had to find the 13th Ghost." Lionel added.

"Give it a rest, dear." Cherry grinned through her teeth, nudging him about that time and understood, but she had heard of it a lot lately.

"Ah, okay," Lionel smirked. "You know I was kidding!"

"Mm-hmm..." Cherry smirked back before looking over. "Okay, kids, you have a fun week. We'll see you later."

LJ, Zofia, and David called and told their parents goodbye as they soon got in the car to go off to visit the Addams Family.

"I really hope it's not another feud with Herman and Lily Munster," Cherry rolled her eyes to Lionel on the way. "I love them all so much like they were my own families."

"Yeah," Lionel replied. "The last one was pretty weird, but I feel like they would get along pretty well."

"Hopefully it ends soon," Cherry said. "Oh, well, let's see what's up with Gomez and Morticia first."

* * *

They soon rode off, leaving LJ, Zofia, and David home alone until tomorrow when the road trip would begin.

"Welp, looks like we're home alone." LJ commented.

"Aaaugh!" Zofia cried out, cupped her cheeks with a small smirk as she attempted to make a joke on that fact.

"Nice try, sis, but Macaulay Culkin, you are not." David replied.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it," Zofia said. "It's like a mandatory joke."

"Fair enough." LJ replied. "So whaddo we do now?"

"I dunno," Zofia said. "How about a movie with some snacks?"

"Sure." David shrugged.

"A nice movie night in before we have to leave at daybreak!" Zofia proclaimed, trying to sound like a melodramatic actress.

LJ and David rolled their eyes.

"So, you guys are coming too?" David asked Estelle about her and her brothers.

"Mm-hmm," Estelle smiled. "We're gonna go in Mom's car, and she's gonna come along with us if you guys don't mind since Dad has to be in the Netherworld to pass a law in the Supernatural Council."

"I barely understand that, but okay." David shrugged.

"Bottom line: we're coming with our mom." Estelle dumbed it down a little.

"I meant that supernatural council stuff," David replied. "I'm no moron!"

"...Sorry?" Estelle shrugged, not sure how she offended him. "I was just telling you what was going on."

"Whatever." David rolled his eyes.

"This family confuses me sometimes," Estelle muttered as she walked off. "You just try to help them and they complain about it."

David snorted. "Bottom line, feh. Just cuz I'm a kid doesn't mean I don't get complex stuff..." he remarked.

Estelle glanced back at David and soon walked off, shrugging to herself.

"You don't suppose I offended her, do you?" David asked.

"To put it simply? Yes." LJ replied.

"Best watch what you say, little bro," Zofia added. "Might really save your life and your friendships."

"Hmm..." David paused as he tried to take that as advice. "I guess I got a little cocky with her."

"Yes," Zofia said. "Estelle's a nice girl and loves kids, she just wants to help out."

"That's respectable..." David replied. "I should apologize to her."

"Good David," Zofia smiled. "Now, what would you like for dinner?"

David thought. "Hmm...surprise me. I'm not feeling too choosy tonight." he replied.

"I'll see what I can do," Zofia smiled before walking off. "I may not be a perfect cook like Felicity, but I'm sure I can whip something up."

"Hey, go for it," LJ shrugged. "Can't be worse than the cafeteria food."

Zofia smiled as she put on her apron and began to cook in the kitchen while LJ and David went in the living room to watch a movie.

"Alright, let's see what we got..." LJ searched through the DVD selection. "Sky High?"

"Hmm... Maybe..." David said. "It's pretty harmless... I think I'm sounding like Mom."

"Eh, that's not really a bad thing," LJ shrugged. "Wonder how they're doing on THEIR road trip? Probably met a bunch of cameos on the way..."

"You wanna call them?" David asked, eagerly.

"Right now?" LJ replied the same way. "Uh... I mean, no! Mom and Dad are totally fine without us!"

The two brothers looked to each other awkwardly until the phone rang and Zofia answered it.

"Hello? Oh, hello, Mother!" Zofia smiled.

LJ and David shrugged. "Go figure..."

"Oh, just cooking dinner, the boys are about to watch a movie." Zofia smiled.

"Incredibles?" David asked LJ.

"Hmm...seen it. Honestly, Mr. Incredible could have just hired Buddy as his gadget guy so he didn't become evil." LJ replied.

"Hm..." David shrugged before he kept looking.

Zofia put the phone on speaker before she went back to cooking.

"Mummy's on the phone~" Cherry's voice rang out, sounding a bit silly.

"Hi, Mom!" The two boys called out.

"Hey, kids," Cherry smiled on the phone as she and Lionel stopped at a gas station/diner. "We just came to a stop, and I thought we'd check on you real quick before you'd go to bed for your big adventure tomorrow."

"Cool!" David called back. "We were thinking of checking on YOU just now!"

"Oh, I'm sure," Cherry replied. "Whoa, these donuts are huge... I bet Akito's Mucha Lucha friends would love 'em. So you kids doing alright?"

"Yeah!" LJ replied. "We're gonna watch a movie!"

"Sounds like fun," Cherry smiled. "Oh, you know what I loved watching at my friend's house when I was a kid? An Extremely Goofy Movie."

"Seriously? That movie was great!" LJ exclaimed.

"That's what I recommend." Cherry smiled to them before sipping some of her drink.

"Alright, we'll watch that next if there's time," David replied. "Catch you and Dad later!"

"All right, you kids have fun, be sure to call when you can." Cherry smiled before hanging up.

"Well, at least we know they're okay." LJ remarked.

"You worried for nothing." David smirked playfully to his big brother.

"Ah, I guess you're right," LJ shrugged. "Maybe I can find some orange soda while I'm at it."

David smiled as he kept looking through the rather bottomless DVD collection owned by their mother.

"Alright, we're watching Sky High." LJ decided.

"Mm... Okay." David said.

"And while the previews roll..." LJ added as he inserted the DVD. "I'm gonna go try and find the sodas."

"All right, I'll make the couch nice and comfy." David said as he did that.

"Alright, you do that." LJ replied as he set off through the house.

David smiled as he set up the couch.

"I'm so excited!" Zofia beamed. "I hope tomorrow comes soon!"

"Likewise." LJ replied.

Eventually, they had their dinner and watched their movie, but they soon went to bed. It was a good night for all of them, but soon their alarm clock went off as the sun was about to come up which meant it was time to meet everyone for the big road trip.

* * *

Everyone yawned and walked sluggishly over to get going for their new adventure out on the open road.

LJ popped his knuckles and twisted himself up. "When they said early..."

"They really meant early." Theo replied, as he arrived with his mom and brothers to see him off.

"Oh, this is so sweet," Colleen smiled. "Teddy has some new friends."

"Mom, please don't call me that," Theo replied. "Either Ted or Theo."

"Oh, right, right..." Colleen replied. "Theo."

The older McNulty boys chuckled to their youngest brother as he went to join his friends.

"Well, all we gotta do now is wait for the others," Theo remarked. "See you when I get back, Mom."

"You have fun with your new friends, sweetie." Colleen smiled before hugging him and kissing him as she soon drove off with his older brothers.

Theo sighed. "Nice lady, but she's kinda embarrassing." he shrugged.

"Moms, what can ya do?" Lee said as he soon came with Estelle, Akito, and Vincent.

Dib and Gaz shared a glance with each other about the mention of mothers.

"Hey guys, glad to see ya!" LJ and David waved. "Wonder when the rest will be coming...?"

Mo was soon riding over in her van with a smile on her face as she took her own kids over to join in on the adventure across the open road.

"Hi, Auntie Mo!" LJ and David waved.

"Hey, kids!" Mo smiled as she came out of the van. "Hope you're ready for a fun week!"

"Hey, Estelle?" David asked. "About last night...I wanna apologize. I was being a hothead and I shot off the ol' yapper, when I should never do that...especially not to my family."

"Hm... You made me feel a little bad..." Estelle gave a small pout. "Do you promise not to do it again?"

"I promise." David nodded.

"One more thing." Estelle said, firmly at first.

"Yeah?" David replied.

Estelle soon smiled and held out her arms for a hug. David shrugged, and hugged Estelle.

"That's a good boy." Estelle smiled before breaking out of the hug once she had enough.

Stu waved goodbye to everyone before going back into the house to go back to sleep.

"Say, where's the RV?" Akito asked for the Rugrats gang.

"That was Betty, everyone!" Lucy smiled as she got off her phone. "She's on her way with the RV right now!"

"Alright!" LJ smirked, hoisting his backpack onto his shoulders. "Then we can hit the road! Hope the others make it in time to climb aboard."

"Where'd Tommy go?" Vincent asked, looking around.

Everyone looked around before seeing Tommy holding hands with a brunette girl known as Rachel Ann Wyatt Alcroft.

"Boy, that's a LOTTA names..." LJ commented. "Oh, hey, Tommy."

"Huh? Oh, uh, hi, LJ." Tommy said as he stood with Rachel.

"Who's your friend with you?" Zofia asked.

"Oh, um, this is Rachel," Tommy said. "Rachel, this is LJ and Zofia."

"Pleased to meet you." LJ replied.

"Hello, there." Zofia added.

"Um, hi," Rachel said. "You must be some of those friends Tommy told me about the other day."

"Yup," LJ replied. "And here come the others!"

The others soon came by, a bit slow and sluggishly though because they were so tired.

"I'll miss you." Rachel smiled sweetly to Tommy.

"Me too." Tommy smiled back to her.

"Aw...that's sweet." LJ commented.

It almost looked as the two were about to kiss each other.

"Tommy! Did you go to the little boy's room?" Didi called out. "We're leaving!"

"Aaaand the moment is ruined," Theo sighed. "Moms: what can ya do?"

"I think you two are gonna be the best of friends." Zofia smirked to LJ and Theo.

LJ nodded at that. "Kimberly, Chrissy, Dib, Gaz, Martin, Jenny, Sara, hi!" he exclaimed to the others who had shown up.

"So... Tired..." Jenny groaned.

"So, these must be your friends," Akito said as he examined them. "Nice to meet you all."

"Yeah...likewise..." Martin yawned. "When's that RV coming...?"

"Mrs. DeVille said she was on her way." Zofia replied softly.

Rachel soon gave Tommy a kiss before she went back home.

"Did you see that?! Did you?!" Chuckie gasped. "She kissed him! On the mouth and everything!"

"Of all the things that have touched my lips, the thought of someone else's never even occurred to me," Phil commented. "I'm repelled, and yet... Oddly intrigued."

LJ gave a warm smile. "You'll understand someday, Phil," he replied. "Though of all the characters I thought would end up together, I figured it would be Chuckie and Susie..." he muttered.

"I'm 13 months, three weeks, and five days older than Tommy, and no girl has ever planted one on me!" Chuckie complained. "It's never gonna happen for me, guys. No girl's ever gonna wanna kiss me."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," David replied. "A lot can happen on a road trip."

"He's right!" Phil smiled. "This is a big country! I'm sure somewhere out there, there's a girl who won't find you freakishly repulsive."

"Ya think?" Chuckie smiled back, hopefully.

* * *

Eventually, Betty came with the RV, but it was not the same one they liked yesterday; this one looked run down and nearly damaged like it went through Hell and back.

"Whoa!" LJ gasped. "This thing looks like it was spit up by a trash compactor!"

Betty then tried to roll down the window as she smiled to her group. "Feast your sockets on the Itex American Cruise Deluxe!"

"What happened to the Nice Tasteful Cascade Supreme?" Lucy asked.

"Sold out," Betty replied as she pushed down the window fully then. "'Sides, I got twice the size for half the price!"

"Not to mention half the stability..." Chrissy commented.

Kimberly tried to open the door, but the handle came out in her hand before opening the door another way and saw the inside which didn't look very comfortable or pleasant to look at.

"Come on in!" Betty urged them. "Oh, and don't worry about that molding baking smell; she'll air out!"

The kids and teens all visibly cringed as they stepped inside.

"Um... Well... It is roomy." Chuckie said while plugging his nose.

"Yeah... It'll still be fun..." Lil added in before her left foot then sunk into the floor and she dropped her soccer ball.

"Sure...fun like a skunk hunt..." Gaz replied sarcastically.

"Guys, did you see this?" Phil asked as he stood by the window, looking to the side of the vehicle.

Most of the letters had been scratched out, so it spelt something different from Itex American Cruise Deluxe.

"I Am Crud?" Akito and Estelle read together in unison as they took a look for themselves.

"If the shoe fits, I suppose..." David replied.

A paper boy laughed at them as he rode by on his bike.

"Come and laugh at my face, ya twerp!" Chrissy yelled out in a Vicky the Babysitter fashion.

"He's not worth it," LJ called out. "Besides...at least we get to travel."

Dil sat on the bumper until it then broke down and fell with him flat on the road.

"Oh, yeah, this is going to be so much fun." Gaz muttered.

Mo soon got the van ready for the others who would travel with her as she would drive after the RV for their big road trip. Martin, Jenny, and Sarah decided to travel with Mo, Akito and Estelle, though LJ and the others were considering joining them.

"Aunt Cherry and Uncle Lionel gone?" Vincent asked.

"Visiting the Addams Family," Zofia said. "Apparently they were needed to help take care of something. I just hope they didn't get in a fight with The Munsters again."

"Yeah." LJ added.

"Munsters... Addams...?" Estelle replied.

"It's complicated, but they pretty much used to hate each other when Mother ended up having to help the Munster family with something, and Gomez and Morticia got jealous," Zofia said. "Gomez and Morticia really love our mother like one of them."

"And they like Dad too." LJ nodded.

"Well, I hope everything's okay with them," Akito said as he adjusted his bandanna a bit. "Glad you guys decided to come along too."

"Especially with Lee joining us." Estelle smiled as she hugged her boyfriend which made him blush.

"Hey, it's a road trip," LJ replied. "Gotta have some family with you."

"You don't mind me, right?" Lee smiled.

"Of course not," Zofia smiled back. "You seem like a great guy."

"Yeah, you're alright." LJ added.

"Well, thanks," Lee smiled bashfully before Estelle went off. "I really wanna keep her happy."

"Mostly because I'll kick your butt if you don't." Akito teased with a small smirk.

"Well, that, but I do love Estelle," Lee smiled. "A lot better than Tammi."

"Who?" asked Kimberly and Chrissy.

"Tammi was my girlfriend before Akito, Estelle, and Vincent went to Southdale High," Lee sighed before shaking his head with a glare. "She's a bit of a mean girl... I can't believe I even liked her before I met Estelle."

"Well, people make mistakes," Chrissy replied. "You just have to learn from them."

"Thanks, Chrissy." Lee smiled.

"Of course." Chrissy smiled back.

"All right," Mo said to the others. "Let's move, move, move!"

And so, everyone got aboard their vehicles and got their stuff packed inside.


	3. Chapter 3

Once they were all set, they soon rode off together out on the open road, and everyone did their best to occupy the the ride as Zofia was reading a book while the adults talked about bonding with the kids. LJ glanced out the window, while taking naps and playing a video game in-between. Tommy was playing with his video camera as Phil and Kimi were playing cards, Lil was bouncing her soccer ball, and Susie was strumming her guitar.

"Lil, are you gonna dribble that ball all the way to New York City?" Phil complained.

"Mm-hmm..." Lil replied as she kept bouncing her ball. "I'm going for the world record. All I have to do is keep this ball off the ground.

"Interesting..." Jenny commented as she read her mother's old Action Guy comic books.

"These ARE pretty good, even if they are kinda cheesy in some parts." Martin remarked.

Phil sighed as he continued to play cards. "I wish we had that RV with the plasma screen and 600 channels and satellite TV."

"Well, some other jerk bought it first," Dib shrugged. "So not much we can do about it now."

"Ah, guys, our moms wouldn't have let us watch it anyway," Tommy said. "Remember the Lipschitz rule: 'No electronic devices. No cell phones, computer games, nothing but the long stretches of the open road to numb our minds'."

Gaz looked a little emotional about the mention of the others talking about their mothers.

"Yeah, numb them into a gooey paste." LJ muttered.

Angelica glared as she watched Susie practicing her singing. When Kira came out of the bathroom, she felt better until Susie sang about cheese, so she ran back inside to continue hurling.

"Talk about mind-numbing." Angelica muttered to Susie's song.

Dil sighed as he saw how bored the older kids seemed. "Boy, are you guys sticks in the mud," he then spoke up after a while. "This trip's gonna be epic, you wanna know why? 'Cuz this is the South West, my friend!"

"And what, pray tell, is SO great about the Southwest?" David asked.

"Home of UFO crashes," Dil continued in excitement. "Nuclear Test Sites, proof that alien bodies in government hangars, and well, with my missing socks. We are talking about the freaky capital of the freaky world! And I say..." he then looked out the window. "Look, Bigfoot!"

The others then looked out the window.

"Aww..." Dib pouted as that seemed to disappoint him. "Dil, that's just a hairy guy with his shirt off."

Kira heard that, and immediately ran back into the bathroom to vomit.

"Poor Mrs. Finster." Kimberly sighed.

"No kidding..." LJ remarked. "That's the price you pay when you get food from a diner/car wash."

"At least it wasn't a Whale Wash." David muttered as he took out an old DVD copy of Shark Tale.

"No kidding." LJ remarked as he chucked it into a trashcan.

"Maybe Dil's right," Tommy said as he took out a paper. "I'm getting down when the trip's already started. Look what I pulled off the 'Net."

Kimi took the paper and read it aloud with a smile. "The 100 Most Upchuckiest Rides in America?"

"And we'll be passing at least half of them." Tommy smiled back.

"Alright..." LJ commented. "The trip is looking up!"

The RV then suddenly came to a stop.

"Okay, everybody," Didi called. "First stop."

"What is it, Mom?" Tommy smiled. "Crazy Canyons?"

"Whiplash Willows?" Chuckie asked.

"Mungo Mountain?" asked David.

"Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom?" Zofia smiled hopefully.

"Even better," Didi smiled. "Welcome to Clifford, California! The Onion Capital of the West!"

At this, the kids' faces fell.

* * *

"Onions...?" David groaned. "This is gonna be SO la-ame...!"

The kids were looking bored, but luckily for them, so did most of the moms except for Didi of course as the tour guide was telling them about their large onion.

Lil sniffled as she suddenly had tears in her eyes. "It's the onions, right?"

"Sure, if you wanna believe that, but I'm actually bored to tears." Lee replied.

Mo seemed like she had fallen asleep while standing up.

LJ smirked. "Lucky her. At least she doesn't hafta be awake for this." he commented.

"Don't touch anything, kids." Didi said as she pulled up her purse which accidentally made all of the hundreds of the onions flood out.

They all walked out and sniffled from the garlic fumes.

Vincent came into the gift shop to look around. "Hmm... Maybe I can find something to give to Jenny once we make it to New York City."

"If she's into onion-related paraphernalia, sure," David replied. "If not? Good luck!"

Vincent smiled bashfully.

"Vincent and his Jenny..." Akito chuckled.

Vincent blushed even more from that as he continued to explore.

Chuckie soon spotted a girl outside looking over a map. "Watch the Finster magic at work." he told the others as he went to go over to talk to the girl.

"If all else fails, this at least might be mildly amusing." Gaz shrugged as LJ took his sketchbook and pencil out of his pocket.

"Hi." Chuckie said as he came up to the girl.

"Hi." The girl smiled to him.

"Um... Have you been eating onions?" Chuckie asked.

The girl then glared before then slapping him across the face.

"Smooth, Finster. Smooth," Gaz snickered.

LJ, meanwhile, finished drawing in his sketchbook and slipped it back in his pocket.

"What'cha drawin'?" Chrissy asked LJ.

LJ blushed. "Oh, sometimes I just like drawing stuff I see in my dreams." he replied.

"Could I maybe see?" Chrissy smirked.

"Well..." LJ replied sheepishly. "Okay..." he pulled it out and turned to the most recent drawing: Kimberly and Chrissy, both clad in French maid outfits. At this point, LJ's face was as red as a ketchup puddle.

Kimberly and Chrissy both soon saw that with wide eyes and they both blushed from that themselves.

"Oh, my..." Kimberly blinked, but didn't make a big fuss over it.

LJ coughed nervously before putting his sketchbook back in his pocket. "The other pages are way different, I promise." he replied.

"Hm... I see... Flattering though..." Chrissy replied as she touched her necklace, but the red part seemed to glow for a bit. "Excuse me a minute." she then said before walking off to the bathroom.

"Okay..." LJ replied.

"Hmm... That necklace looks familiar..." Mo commented. "Oh, well, it's probably nothing."

"Okay, everybody, Photo Op!" Lucy called out as she found someone to take their picture on camera.

The tour guide took the camera out. "1...2..." he counted, before Phil looked down.

"Hey, look-a flattened lizard!" he exclaimed, picking something up off the ground.

At that, Kira immediately ducked out to puke again.

"...3." And the guide snapped the picture.

"Oh, yeah. That's a keeper." Akito smirked.

* * *

**_Later..._**

"Welcome to the World's Widest Christmas Tree..." A tour guide in the desert introduced the crowd as he stood by the tree.

"Oh, well, about time to get ready for the holidays," Mo shrugged. "They seem to come early every year."

"And yet, people overlook Thanksgiving and just jump right to Christmas." David sighed.

"I guess at least on the bright side our mom got to tell our dad and his family about Thanksgiving?" Jenny smiled sheepishly.

"And yet PerkyGoth14 has only _one_ Thanksgiving special in her series." Sara muttered.

"Eh, nothing wrong with that!" LJ shrugged.

"I agree with you guys though," Sara said. "Thanksgiving was always my favorite holiday. My dad's side of the family feels... Normal compared to my mother and grandmother."

"Time for another group photo." Gaz told the others as she walked by.

"Aw, maaan..." David grumbled as they all got into place.

Everyone soon gathered together to just get it over with. However, as they tried to take a picture, Kira soon ran off again.

"Man, Kira, you're more sick than that time you got to meet the Thornberrys!" Mo called out to the Japanese woman.

"Boy, was that an ordeal..." LJ replied.

Dil soon plucked an ornament off the tree after the picture was taken.

"Dil, don't touch." Didi told her son, putting it back on the tree, but that seemed to make a mess.

"Isn't it wonderful how well our girls are getting along?" Lucy smiled to Charlotte.

"I know," Charlotte smiled back in agreement. "Angelica hasn't shown one hint of jealousy about the parade."

LJ smirked at that. "Oh, if only they knew..." he remarked.

There seemed to be light singing heard.

"...I know that song from somewhere..." Mo said to herself once she heard the singing.

LJ glanced at her. "What's up, Auntie Mo?" he asked.

"I know that song from somewhere... I just know it..." Mo told herself.

The others looked to her as the singing was heard, but it wasn't from Susie.

LJ heard the sound. "Where's that coming from?" he asked her.

"I-I'm not sure..." Mo said. "I know I've heard it somewhere..."

They went to explore as they heard the singing from somewhere. Chrissy soon came out as the song ended and her necklace glowed and she put her hand over it.

"Chrissy, did you hear that singing?" Mo asked.

"...What singing?" Chrissy replied innocently.

"We heard something that sounded like singing." LJ explained.

"I didn't hear anything." Chrissy replied.

The others looked to each other and just shrugged.

"Oh, well," Mo said. "Time to get back on the road, I guess. We're all here, right?"

"Pretty much," LJ replied. "Let's get going."

They soon went back into the RV and the van and soon drove off back on the road.

* * *

Much later, they were now visiting the World's Biggest Ball of String.

"Another lame tourist trap..." LJ groused. "I'd rather go make out with Kimberly or Chrissy somewhere nearby..."

"Man, these are a bunch of lame moms..." Mo muttered. "MY mother was more exciting than this and she always sewed her own clothes, taught piano lessons, or cleaned up the house all the time."

"Not to mention send us those embarrassing sailor costumes." Akito rolled his eyes.

David shrugged. "It's just one snoozefest after another on this route..." he sighed.

"You guys want some sandwiches?" Mo offered, taking out a lunchbox.

"That sounds nice." LJ remarked.

Mo soon sat down with them, passing sandwiches all around of many types to them.

Tommy looked up on the way inside the RV as he then saw a man bungee jumping. "Hey, Mom, why can't we go do that?" he then asked with a smile.

"You'd hurt yourself." Didi said while dusting him clean.

"Well, that might at least be more interesting than this." David replied.

"Besides, you can do cheap thrill rides anywhere," Betty added in with a smile. "Where else but Needles Nevada could you have seen the World's Biggest Ball of String?"

Didi had a piece of string stuck to her shoe and the ball seemed to unravel as they were leaving the area.

"You know what ELSE is in Nevada? Vegas. Remember that time when you guys went to Vegas?" LJ smirked.

"I think Aunt Cherry has friends in Vegas." Akito commented.

"At this point, it wouldn't surprise me," LJ shrugged. "Still, that was way more fun than this."

"Maybe I can sneak you guys over." Mo whispered so the other moms wouldn't hear.

"So cool." Vincent smiled to his mother.

"Definitely..." LJ and David nodded.

* * *

Everyone soon took a food break by the picnic tables. Raul was coming to random girls and kept asking them out, though he seemed to have worse luck than Chuckie which was really saying a lot.

LJ just shook hia head in smug dismay. "I guess Chuckie isn't the only one having girl troubles..." he remarked.

"I don't get it!" Raul glared. "That works all the time back home!"

"You're not home." Chrissy smirked.

"Yeah," David replied. "It's new territory. And the girls out here have different tastes!"

"Hmm..." Raul gave a small pout to that.

Mo decided to take the kids around Nevada while the moms explored the tourist attractions.

"Well, this ought to be more interesting..." LJ shrugged.

"Now, you kids can come in, but I can't leave you alone just yet." Mo said as she took them into a casino from Las Vegas.

"We understand," LJ replied as he snapped his fingers and poofed them all into snazzy suits. "Gotta dress for the occasion!"

Raul scratched his butt a bit on the way inside. Mo smiled to them as she brought them into the real bright side that was visiting Nevada which was Las Vegas.

"Let's check it OUT!" LJ smirked as he started strutting in his new hat and suit.

The others soon went to join him as Mo supervised them with a small smile.

"Hmm... Games..." Gaz smirked as she walked off to go play some of the games in Vegas, but they had gambling in them.

"I dunno if you should do that, Gaz," Dib stated. "Gambling has been known to be pretty addictive."

"I must play..." Gaz drawled. "I will play..."

"I don't know what to make of her sometimes." Zofia commented.

"Yeah, she's already addicted to video games..." Dib sighed.

Gaz soon went to play some casino games which would prove later on to be a big mistake.

Kimberly looked interested in seeing a magic show and smiled as she saw white doves with lions with the magicians at work. "Larry and Kate the Lions featuring Blake and Victoria the Tigers?" she then commented. "Hmm... I've never seen white lions or tigers up close before."

"I've heard of them, but never seen 'em." LJ replied.

"Um... Should we go?" Kimberly smiled.

"Totally." LJ smiled, taking her hand.

Kimberly blushed a bit and soon went with him to check out the magic show.

* * *

The kids earned some excitement back once they explored Las Vegas up close together.

"This is almost better than Chuck E. Cheese!" Estelle laughed as she rode an indoor Ferris Wheel with Lee.

"No kidding," Lee remarked. "Or even Showbiz Pizza or Monkey Joe's!"

Estelle leaned against him with a smile. Akito seemed to glance over as if to keep an eye on his younger twin sister and her boyfriend, but soon smiled as he had some of his own fun.

"Okay, where are those tigers?" LJ wondered.

Kimberly looked around with LJ as they explored the magic show theater.

Backstage, there appeared to be the white tigers who seemed obnoxious and full of themselves compared to the white lions.

"Oh, you look so beautiful." Kimberly smiled to the tigress who must've been Victoria.

"I know." The tigress smirked.

"Whoa, you can talk?!" LJ gasped in shock.

"...You can talk to me?" Victoria asked. "I thought humans weren't smart enough to."

"I guess we never tried before..." LJ replied.

"Hm," Victoria smirked. "Well, you're in for a treat if you wanna talk to me. After all, Blake and I are the best stars of the show, unlike Larry and Kate."

"Good to know." LJ replied.

"What brings you two here?" Victoria asked.

"We're gonna see the magic show later." Kimberly smiled to the tigress.

"Yeah, we figure it might be interesting!" LJ added.

"Well, yes," Victoria smirked. "White tigers are the best in show after all."

"A little smug, aren't we?" Kimberly commented.

"They're very self-confident, that much is true." LJ added.

"Hm..." Kimberly said and soon went to see the lions. "You two seem nice."

"Hello, dear, I don't think we've talked to a human before," Kate smiled while her mate seemed to be lazy and asleep. "Larry... We have guests!"

"Nice to meet you." LJ waved.

"Huh? Oh, uh, hey..." Larry replied.

Kimberly and LJ smiled as they seemed to make some new friends.

"Mo, there you are, we should go now," Didi said. "We have a lot more to see."

"Uh, yeah, sounds cool, Didi, but I think I found something better than a mayonnaise museum or whatever." Mo told her.

"Yeah! Casino royale, hombrés!" Martin whooped.

Didi didn't seem to like them running off like that. Mo soon groaned with the kids as they now had to leave Vegas.

* * *

**_Later that night..._**

The kids stayed in a tent while the moms decided to stay and sleep inside the RV, and Mo was sleeping in her van.

"It's official, this trip is a bust." Tommy complained.

"Maybe for you guys," LJ shrugged. "We had a TON o' fun!"

"Oh, sure, just abandon us," Lil rolled her eyes as she continued to bounce her soccer ball. "Meanwhile, we had four hours in the Museum of Mayonnaise. When do we get to do what we wanna do?"

Phil mumbled as he looked through his backpack.

"You could've come with, but you chose not to." LJ shrugged.

"We didn't know where you were!" Tommy replied.

"Not too far off, buddy," Akito chuckled. "Oh, well. We'll make it up to ya somehow."

"Hmm..." Tommy rolled his eyes slightly.

"Sorry..." Theo replied.

"You doing okay, Theo?" Akito smiled.

"Yeah, I'm all right," Theo said. "It sure is nice to get away from my brothers for a while. I kinda miss my mom though."

"It's cool, man," LJ replied. "I miss my mom and dad too."

"Uh... What is... That?" Chrissy grimaced to Phil as he brought out his backpack.

"My collection," Phil replied. "I'm so bored I think I could become a nationalist... Or a chef..." he then took out something that looked like a reptile tail as he then dangled it in her face.

"Dude, not cool," LJ replied. "Sorry about that, Chrissy."

"It's fine... Just... Ugh..." Chrissy groaned slightly.

"What is it with moms anyway?" Tommy griped. "Why do they have to be all over us all the time?"

"Besides, what's with all these photographs?" Chuckie asked.

"And the 'don't touch anythings'." Lil added in drearily.

"I dunno, I kinda like it when Mom wipes my face with a saliva soaked tissue," Dil smiled. "It's like a warm, wet 'I love you'."

"He is strange." Theo commented about Dil.

"Pretty much, yeah," Estelle said. "He's been that way for as long as we can even remember."

"Only cuz Phil dropped him," LJ remarked. "Smooth move, butterfingers."

"Hey, it's not all my fault," Phil replied. "Lil said 'How hard can it be to carry Dil?'."

Lil glared to that as she bounced her soccer ball.

Kimi came over with a smile. "I was on my way to the bathrooms and guess who I found digging in the garbage?"

"What?" asked Dib.

A dog then barked as he came beside Kimi.

"I went to every campsite and no one knew him," Kimi said as she pet the dog. "He must've been abandoned."

"And Mom said you could keep him?" Chuckie asked.

"No way, so I figure, I'll sneak him in..." Kimi shook her head before crawling inside the tent. "Come on in, Pumpkin."

"Don't you guys already have a dog?" Vincent replied.

"Yeah, Spike and Fifi's puppies!" LJ added.

"Who says I can't have a new one?" Kimi replied.

"Your mom when she finds out." Lee said.

"Aw, but can't he at least stay for tonight?" Kimi pouted.

"Fine...but he better not mess anything up." LJ relented.

"Don't worry, you won't even know he's here." Kimi smiled.

The others looked to each other as they settled in to get some sleep.

"Well, one good thing; we're out in the fresh air and not stuck in the Crudinator." Lil commented.

The others agreed as they then decided to get some sleep.

"Well, maybe I might have something cool for the ol' dream sketchbook..." LJ remarked as he dozed off.


	4. Chapter 4

Everyone then fell asleep as Lil put her soccer ball away for right now so that she could start fresh in the morning. Unfortunately, the group found themselves beset by a swarm of mosquitoes, which killed any plans for sleeping that night. They soon got up and decided to go sleep in the RV, it might've been a terrible vehicle for a vacation, but at least it wasn't outside. By the time they woke up the next morning, Kimi's new dog had torn through half the contents of the RV, including LJ's sketchbook.

"Oh..." Akito started.

"My..." Estelle added.

"Gosh!" The Fudo twins concluded in unison.

Pumpkin soon jumped up, grabbing Phil's backpack to chew on next.

"No!" LJ wailed, dropping to his knees and screaming up to the sky. "No...no...**NOOOOOOOOOO!**"

Kimberly and Chrissy frowned as they came beside LJ out of comfort since his best work had nearly been destroyed.

"Hey, it's fine, we can just get you a new book." Sara shrugged.

"You can replace the book..." LJ sobbed. "But ye cannae replace the artistic genius captured within its pages."

"LJ, I'm so sorry." Kimberly frowned.

"Hmm..." Akito paused before smiling in thought. "Hmm!"

Chrissy patted LJ on the back as Akito came over.

"Maybe some Wiccan magic can help." Akito smiled to LJ.

"You really think so?" LJ asked curiously.

"It couldn't hurt... Now, let me see..." Akito said as he took out his spell book, flipping through the pages.

LJ glanced on, looking desperate.

"Aha!" Akito smiled as he found the spell. "Let me see your book."

LJ soon handed over his sketchbook.

Akito looked at the spell and soon took out his official wand from school due to graduating from his own Magic Class with Felicity, Estelle, and Vincent. "'Libraria Reparo'." he then said before using his wand and fixed the sketchbook and it was good as new while also looking like how it used to before the dog got to it.

"Saaaaay...awesome!" LJ exclaimed, giving Akito a bear-hug.

"What're friends/cousins for?" Akito smiled, hugging LJ back.

"Aww... So sweet." Mo smiled to her younger son's generosity.

LJ patted Akito on the back as he finished hugging him. Akito smiled before looking to Pumpkin, shaking his head at the dog slightly. Kira had a firm look on her face as if she knew her daughter had something to do with this. Kimi smiled and chuckled nervously.

"I don't speak parent, but I believe that's code-word for busted." David noted.

* * *

A lot of the others agreed to that as it seemed like Pumpkin wasn't going to stay with them for much longer. Akito and Estelle soon helped tidy up the mess that Pumpkin left behind before they could go back on the road.

"Kimi, I'm sorry, but you can't keep him." Kira told her daughter.

"Yeah. He's a troublemaker, and I doubt Aki can do the same spell again." LJ added.

"I probably could, but... I'm sorry, Kimi," Akito replied. "Besides, you can probably hang out with Fifi or her and Spike's puppies?"

"I guess..." Kimi smiled bashfully.

"Alright, let's ditch Fido here and get some eats." David replied.

They soon made Pumpkin go outside as they went to get something to eat before going back on the road.

"Because of this morning's...dog incident," Didi explained, putting out a road map. "we're a little off-schedule, so I mapped out a tour of the most amazing natural wonders you'll ever see."

"You'll have exactly six minutes at each site or we're takin' off without ya!" Betty called back to the kids.

"Hmm... Fair enough... Looks good, Mrs. Pickles." Kimberly said as she looked at the map with the others.

* * *

And so, they went to six natural sites before they arrived at this bridge.

"Well...that was more tolerable than I thought..." LJ noted.

"Not bad, I have to admit." Zofia agreed with her brother.

"Ooh, la, la~" Raul smirked as he saw a cute redhead at the end of the bridge.

However, it seemed like Chuckie had beat him to the punch.

"Chuckie!" Raul glared.

"Shh~" Jenny said, holding him back, trying to calm him down.

"Hi, my name's Chuckie, I'm traveling across the-" Chuckie smirked as he sat on the bridge to flirt with the redhead.

"'Ello, mate!" The redhead smiled and waved, sounding like an older woman or a drag queen.

Chuckie yelped in surprise and fell off the bridge.

"Hey, consider this bullet dodged, cous." Martin remarked.

"Thanks, guys." Raul said on relief.

"Hey, no problem, we take care of ya." Jenny smiled.

Chuckie soon climbed out of the water before his friends rushed over to help him out.

"Whoof," Tommy cringed. "Could this trip get any worse?"

"Aaaaand...jinxed." LJ sighed.

"Look at what we found at the gift shop!" Betty called as she and Charlotte wore hats and they soon put the same hats on their kids. "Matching hats!"

"Doesn't this just scream tourist in a kind of tacky, yet trendy kind of way?" Charlotte smiled as she also wore one.

"Oh, it's a scream alright." Mo smirked.

"It screams something, but I can't say what in front of small children." LJ remarked as they snapped the picture.

"Oh, yeah," Chuckie groaned. "This'll really help me with the ladies."

* * *

They soon took more and more pictures all the way through the trip to exotic landmarks.

"Ah, the Grand Canyon," Didi smiled at the sight. "You know, Tommy, it takes 4,000,000,000 years for Mother Nature to make a rock tower like that."

"And you're gonna stand here and make me watch her, are ya?" Tommy asked dryly.

Lil kept on bouncing her soccer ball as Kimi tried to keep Pumpkin from causing more trouble. Pumpkin soon began to tackle Phil, trying to get his backpack again.

"Stop!" Vincent cried out. "Uh, heel! Sit! Ugh... I am not a dog person..."

Pumpkin growled as he kept trying to get Phil's backpack as Mo came up behind the dog.

"Mom! Help!" Vincent cried out in misfortune.

Pumpkin barked a bit aggressively which seemed to frustrate Vincent.

"Hey, whoa!" Mo called out in a sharp tone.

Pumpkin soon quieted down and stopped doing what he was doing.

"Well, at least he didn't bite Phil in the butt..." LJ shrugged.

Pumpkin looked over.

"Don't even. Think. About it." Mo told the dog.

Pumpkin then whined and sat down on the ground.

Phil had accidentally knocked down Tommy and then picked up his video camera and looked into the lens. "Whoa, I love this movie!"

Didi looked over. "Movie?" she asked.

"Didi, I thought the kids weren't supposed to zone out on this trip." Lucy said to the woman.

"Tommy!" Didi called firmly.

"Uh... Speaking of Moms..." Zofia smiled nervously and soon dialed a number and held out her phone to LJ so they could talk with their own mother as she didn't like where this was going.

"Good idea..." LJ remarked.

Zofia grinned eagerly as the phone began to ring.

Cherry soon came on after a while.

"Mother... Hello..." Zofia smiled. "How's it going down there?"

"Your father is helping Wednesday and Pugsley with a prank on a snooty new couple who moved down the street," Cherry replied. "They remind me of a demented version of The Brady Bunch."

"Heh, classic Dad," LJ chuckled. "So, what are these happy sunshine-y weirdos like?"

"You kids doing okay?" Cherry asked with a small smile.

"Yeah, even though the trip is kinda lame," LJ replied. "But Aunt Mo is awesome! We went to Vegas!"

"Oh, Mother, it was fabulous!" Zofia added. "So many exotic sights and sounds!"

"Ah, Las Vegas..." Cherry sighed with a small smile. "I've had plenty of nice adventures down there."

"Seriously? Awesome!" LJ exclaimed. "You and Dad must've had some crazy times there!"

"Yeah..." Cherry said before smiling bashfully. "Especially with meeting a couple of magicians I've been dying to meet for the longest time until your father talked them into playing a card game and playing a trading game with Spider-Man and Deadpool..."

LJ smirked. "That must've been fun!" he remarked. "Definitely more than all the lame tourist spots we've been going to..."

"Well, I'm sorry if it's a bust..." Cherry rolled her eyes. "I thought Mrs. DeVille of all people would show you guys exciting stuff. She seems like she'd be a Wild Hog."

"Heh, maybe..." LJ shrugged. "We'll talk to you and Dad later."

"You kids try to make the most of it," Cherry said. "We'll talk later."

"Okay, bye." Zofia said softly.

"Bye, Mom." LJ replied as they hung up.

Cherry waved before hanging up on them. Zofia gave a small sigh.

"Nice to know Mom and Dad are okay..." LJ replied as they turned back to face the others.

"Yeah..." Zofia said softly. "It's good for them to have some alone time together anyway."

* * *

The two teens turned back to face the group. It seemed like all of the moms were getting into arguments now.

"Ex-CUSE me, but have we forgotten what this trip is FOR?" Susie asked.

"To make you even more insufferably perfect than you already are?" Angelica deadpanned.

"And to promote the good work of America's hardworking cheese producers." Susie then reminded with a smile, letting Angelica's comment slide.

"And it was about us moms getting closer to you guys." Didi added in with a smile.

"Well, I'm sick of getting close!" Tommy glared. "I'm sick of being told what to do! And I'm sick of having a mom!"

Gaz's eyes widened before she glared towards him. "At least you HAVE a mom!"

Everyone gasped at that. Kimberly and Sara decided to back off slowly, choosing not to get involved in this, and I can't say I blame them.

Didi looked broken, but tried not to let that bother her. "Maybe we should get going?"

"Mrs. Pickles... I'm so sorry..." Gaz said which was a bit shocking.

Dib looked surprised to see his sister apologizing.

"I just wanted to come on this trip because I thought of being around you moms wouldn't make me feel so bad about not having one!" Gaz cried as she began to show other emotions than bitterness. "I've always wanted to have a mom, but I can't remember what it was like! It was just me, Dib, and Dad, and Dad's barely even around!"

Dib wasn't used to seeing Gaz so emotionally vulnerable, but he hugged her nevertheless. Gaz looked up to her brother before hugging him back with tears in her eyes.

"Oh, it's all right, Gaz, I'm sure Tommy just needs to blow off some steam." Didi said before chucking a pebble behind her back which made the Grand Canyon crumble and fall on their way out.

* * *

Later that night, the kids were gathered around a campfire, but nobody was talking and David and Theo were roasting marshmallows and hot dogs.

"Ah... Camping... Ya gotta love it or hate it." Jenny said.

"I'm split down the middle sometimes." Sara commented.

"What you said to Mom about not needing her, T? Harsh." Dill stated.

"Yeah, well, wait 'til you're older..." Tommy scoffed as he stared into the fire. "You'll understand."

"I've gotten mad at my old man before, but that was just cold." Akito said to Tommy.

"Cold? More like brutal," LJ replied. "I've never been that pissed at my parents."

"Hey, you guys coming to see the Curtain of Tears tonight?" A boy's voice asked as he soon came out to see them. "I'm trying to catch a ride."

"Curtain of Tears?" Kimi replied with a smile. "What's that?"

"Oh, man, you've never heard of it?" The boy replied.

The group then shook their heads at him.

"The story is, this Indian Princess, Soyiani ditched out some bogus dude her dad wanted her to marry," The boy began to explain. "So her tribe left him behind to starve to death on the Red Rocks, not too far from here."

"Whoa, talk about harsh." Dill remarked.

"They say she cried so many tears that a geyser was made on that spot," The strange boy continued, telling them the story. "Every year at this night, it blows and you can see the princess rise in the mist. You can hear her screams echoing in the rocks."

The group felt surprised and entranced by the story. The boy soon walked off, a bit mysteriously after telling them what he knew.

"Well...that's sufficiently creepy." LJ noted.

"I'm not sure if I like it, but I'm definitely intrigued." Zofia said to her brother.

"Guys, did you hear that?" Dil smiled in excitement. "An genuine Appreciation Site with water feature!"

"Finally, something we wanna do!" Tommy beamed.

"Our moms aren't gonna let us go out in the desert at midnight." Lil stated.

"Oh, yeah" Phil agreed. "We might 'touch' something."

"We can always sneak out after they've gone to sleep." Tommy suggested with a smile.

"Sneak out?" Theo frowned. "I don't know if I could ever do that. Timmy does that all the time whenever Grandpa comes over."

"And from what I've seen, your brother isn't exactly the most squeaky clean, reputation-wise." LJ added.

"You have no idea," Theo said. "I also hope Mom's okay... She's had to go to the doctor a log and she's really tired a lot more."

"I'd say raising five boys is a challenge enough." Estelle commented before eating a veggie dog.

"True that." LJ replied.

"Guys, we gotta go." Kimi said.

"Uh, go where?" David asked.

"To see a real live dead Indian princess," Kimi smiled. "Out in the desert!"

"Sounds epic, but I dunno if it's such a good idea," Susie replied. "I gotta sing in New York in four days and I don't even have my song down yet!"

"Yeah, and what if the van and RV take off, leaving us behind?" asked David.

"Usually we only drive Mom's car in emergencies." Vincent replied.

"Huh..." David replied. "Still, if they don't know where we are, they might leave us behind."

"Yeah, you can never tell with parents," Akito said before smirking. "I drive though."

"Fair enough." Estelle playfully rolled her eyes.

"Well, maybe Susie's right..." Tommy sighed. "We don't even know how to get there."

* * *

"Kids?" Didi called.

The group turned to face their mothers.

"We want to apologize." Lucy said.

"We haven't been listening to what you guys wanna do." Didi added.

"So tonight, we're going to a real southwestern fiesta!" Betty beamed.

"Okay...that doesn't sound too bad," LJ replied. "We might even be able to score some decent eats there."

"Let's go check it out then." Theo gave a small smile.

* * *

There was a Mariachi band with dancers with loud and happy music playing. Kira wanted to get in on it, but Kimi held down her mother and urged her to not go with them. Two dancers then jumped down and encouraged audience participation. The others then smiled and joined the band on stage and danced with them.

"Shake your groove thing, Shake your groove thing, baby~" Mo sang to herself as she danced.

"Okay...it's not THAT bad, right?" LJ asked curiously.

"I don't think it is," Estelle said. "Sure it was embarrassing when Mom helped out at one dance and Tammi Sparks made fun of her, but I didn't mind. It was just nice to see Mom having fun."

"It can't be worse than when Star Butterfly messes around with Marco Diaz." Vincent smiled softly.

"Oh, that's it, we have to get away from our moms." Tommy said to the others.

"I don't see why," Gaz shrugged as she ate several plates worth of cheesy enchiladas. "They're just having fun."

"You just don't understand, Gaz." Tommy told her.

"...No... I guess I don't." Gaz replied with a sharp sigh.

Dib rolled his eyes at that. Raul seemed to enjoy a bit of the dancing and smirked to some of the girls who were there. Martin and Jenny rolled their eyes at that.

"You... Look familiar..." A brown-haired girl said to Raul.

"...Yeah... You do too..." Raul said to her. "You look like that girl that came to Día de Muertos that my parents hosted one time..."

The two seemed to look to each other as they had some sort of connection with each other. The two shrugged at that.

"Why don't you two start over?" Theo suggested.

"All right," Raul smirked. "My name is Raul Manuel Joshua Wendell Rivera."

"Hola, soy Dora Márquez," The brown-haired girl replied. "I live in the city of Playa Verde."

"Dora...?" Martin blinked. "Oh...I remember. She had the whole 'explorer' thing going for a good while..."

"Heh... Yeah..." Dora replied. "That was a long time ago."

"You were also there when we were told about The Book of Life..." Raul remembered now. "Gosh, were you a loud kid."

"Yeah, but I mellowed out over time." Dora replied casually.

"Um... It's good to see you again..." Raul smiled sheepishly. "You liking the city?"

"It's nice, yes," Dora smiled back softly. "I sometimes miss my old friends, but I have some cool new friends in the city."

"That's good to hear." Raul replied.

"Haven't seen you in a while..." Dora said. "Um... I guess I better get going now."

"Uh, no, no, you can stay," Raul said bashfully. "I mean... Hang out with us a while."

"Oh. Well...okay." Dora replied after brief hesitancy.

"I mean... Only if you want to..." Raul bit his lip. "Or if you're busy..."

"What's this? Raul is at a loss for words over a girl?" Zofia whispered to herself.

"Looks like he has a crush!" LJ replied.

Raul gave a bashful smile to Dora as they began to bond with each other.

"Maybe we don't need to sneak out..." LJ remarked.


	5. Chapter 5

Later that night, the moms fell asleep and were knocked out from all the fun they had.

"You going to bed too, Mom?" Vincent asked.

"I probably should," Mo said with a bit of a yawn. "I'm not the party girl I used to be in high school."

"Fair enough," LJ shrugged. "Good night."

"You kids try to get some sleep yourselves," Mo smiled. "Don't stay up too late now."

"You got it!" Chrissy nodded.

Mo soon yawned and stretched on her way to bed.

"Night, Mom." Akito, Estelle, and Vincent smiled.

"Night, Auntie Mo!" LJ, Zofia, and David yawned as they dozed off.

* * *

It was soon time to get some sleep. As everyone else went to bed, it seemed like the Rugrats gang was going to sneak out anyway.

"Does that shirt make me look fat?" Kimi whispered to Angelica as she stuffed her sleeping bag.

Gaz and LJ woke up with a yawn.

"Don't tell me...you're sneaking out?" Gaz groaned.

"We gotta see what's going on around here." Tommy insisted.

Gaz rolled his eyes. "Ugh...fine."

"We're gonna get left behind, I just know it..." LJ sighed.

"This plan already wreaks of failure." Gaz grumbled.

"Whatever it is you're dragging me to, better be worth it." Angelica glared to the others as Phil opened the back window for them to climb out and meet the others further into the desert.

"This had better be good," Chrissy remarked. "I had to miss out on my beauty sleep."

"Hey, not like you or Kimberly needed it that much," LJ replied. "No sense in trying to improve on perfection."

"Aww~" Kimberly smiled before hugging LJ. "You're as sweet as sugar cookies~"

LJ blushed, kissing her on the cheek. "Ah, you know, I try." he replied.

The others looked to each other as they soon snuck out into the desert together as a group.

"We've been walking around for an hour and I haven't seen any red rocks!" Angelica groaned. "You've been conned."

"It would seem that way." LJ replied before a brown-haired kid popped his head up.

"Name's Coop Burtonburger. You guys looking for the Red Rocks, right?" he asked.

"Uh... Yeah..." Gaz blinked.

"Would you happen to know where it is?" Dib asked him.

"Sure! Just follow me!" Coop replied as he popped back down.

* * *

The others looked to each other as they began to follow their new friend around.

"You sure came out of nowhere." Zofia commented.

"Well, I just needed time away from my dad and my annoying little sister," Coop replied. "Not to mention her freaky alien pet."

"Alien pet?" Dib and Dil both asked out of interest.

"You guys gotta believe me!" Coop told them. "I know we just met, but if you see my sister with her cat, it's an alien from another planet! It's out to get me!"

"Okay...describe what it looks like." Dil replied curiously.

"Well, it looks like a regular cat, but with big black eyes!" Coop said. "I've seen what it can do, but no one ever believes me!"

"Kid, I think you and I could have a lot to talk about." Dib commented as he thought about his misadventures with ZIM from what Coop was saying.

"Alright, but we can talk more when-" Coop started before he gasped. "Great, we're here. The Red Rocks!"

"Whoooa..." The others whispered in awestruck once they had finally made it.

"You can thank me later." Coop smiled to his new friends.

"We'll thank you now," Zofia smiled back. "Thanks, um, Coop."

"No problem!" he remarked as he headed down the rocks.

They all then joined him to explore the site up close.

* * *

Lil was still bouncing her soccer ball as she was up to about 9,000. At the site, there were a bunch of teens and kids hanging out around a bonfire and having fun.

"Tommy, meet the Rogers, they were cloned and abducted by aliens, this place rocks!" Dil beamed.

"Do they know an alien named Roger?" Zofia smirked while Tommy pulled a face.

"I hope that they see the note I left in the van..." LJ said. "Wouldn't want them leaving us behind."

"Mother says you should always leave a note." Zofia nodded to her brother.

Susie then practiced her song while Angelica hummed loudly another song just to make her mess up. "ANGELICA!"

"What?" Angelica asked nonchalantly.

"Anybody see where Chuckie went?" Jenny asked.

By the full moon, Chuckie was seen talking to a girl who was telling him about her braces.

"Oh, she's cute." Jenny commented about the girl Chuckie had met.

"Yeah, he might have better luck with this one." David nodded.

"Nice night..." Chuckie commented.

"Yeah..." The girl smiled in agreement.

Chuckie soon went to put his hand on her hand, and she actually seemed to want him to kiss her, but... A geyser soon went off which startled Chuckie into the girl's lap.

"Ooh, swing and a miss." LJ sighed.

"That wasn't too bad though, but... Look at that!" Zofia said.

The geysers all went off in front of them.

"This must be the Curtain of Tears that kid was talking about earlier." Vincent commented.

"Pretty sweet, right?" asked Coop as they saw it going off.

"Yeah..." Gaz said. "Impressive."

There was a female scream heard with the gallops of a horse. The kids all cheered and whooped at this amazing display of nature's beauty.

"Oh, man... Mom would've loved this." Estelle smiled, but sighed softly as Mo was asleep and couldn't enjoy the beautiful nature.

"Glad ya liked it." Coop chuckled to the others.

"Well, this has been fun," LJ replied. "Now let's get back to the RV before they discover we're gone."

"Did you see that?!" Lil beamed.

"And the part where-?!" Kimi added.

"I know! And then when the-" Tommy gushed.

"I was so close..." Chuckie smiled. "I could almost feel her overbite on my cheek."

* * *

And so the kids made their way back to the RV parking. They then came to the parking lot to find it empty.

"Oh, no, i-it's gone!" Susie gasped.

"I don't get it, the RV was right here!" Tommy panicked.

"Maybe my mom went to fill up the tank?" Lil suggested nervously.

"Maybe someone stole it!" Chuckie gasped.

"The I-AM-CRUD?" Angelica asked. "Get real."

LJ sighed. "I knew it...they LEFT us..." he groused.

"Maybe it's payback for what Tommy said to Mom," Dil suggested. "And we're just gonna starve to death like the Indian Princess Solianyi!"

"How long do you think we can last if we take turns licking this fuzzy mint?" Phil asked, making some of the others cringe in disgust.

"Okay, okay, let's not get all whacked out about this," Susie chuckled nervously. "We'll just hike over to the ranger's station. There is a perfectly good explanation for all of this."

The others soon walked off to get going.

"I hope..." Susie whispered nervously.

"If they left, then that means they didn't even notice we weren't there!" LJ realized. "The note did no good!"

"I guess we're on our own now..." Zofia sighed. "Great... Well, I guess we wanted an exciting adventure."

"Welcome to our world," Akito said. "But, wait, shouldn't our mom still be here?"

"Hey, you're right!" LJ exclaimed. "Then we can find her!"

"I'm sure she can't be too far if we just calm down, and-" Estelle began.

"MOMMY! HEEEELP!" Vincent cried out.

Akito and Estelle looked to their older brother in deadpan. David chuckled a little at that.

"I thought the plan was to keep calm," LJ asked. "Guess Vince didn't get the memo."

"MOMMY! HELP!" Vincent still cried out.

"Calm down!" Chrissy told him. "We're gonna be fine! So we lost your mom, it's not the end of the world!"

"She's right," LJ replied. "We've faced tougher things than this! We're the freakin' Schwartz-Fudo family, god-damn it! We never backed down before and we won't start now!"

"I'm sorry for freaking out..." Vincent said. "It's just that since Mr. Sykes kidnapped me as a baby, I get a little paranoid."

"A little?" Chrissy rolled her eyes. "You acted like you just got lose in a brand new Mall. Uh... You were kidnapped?" she then asked.

"Uh-huh..." Vincent nodded softly. "I spent the first eight years of my life trapped with that madman."

"Whoa...jeez, Vince, I never knew..." LJ replied as he gave his cousin a hug. "Well...we're gonna find our families, I promise!"

Chrissy gave a soft look on her face about Vincent's childhood trauma.

"I know, a big strong boy like me is crying for his mama..." Vincent said softly. "I just can't find her van."

"Mom left us too..." Estelle frowned. "That's so unlike her."

"Dude. It ain't wrong to cry," LJ replied. "If anything, it would make less sense if you DIDN'T cry. But I swear I'm gonna help you guys find our families. And when I promise something, I mean it."

"Come on, we better get going." Zofia said.

They all soon walked off to make their way to the rangers' station.

* * *

**_Meanwhile..._**

"Hm... I guess the kids went in the RV..." Mo said to herself as she rode off in the van.

* * *

"Why don't we try calling Auntie Mo's phone?" asked David as they were walking. "You mean nobody thought of doing that?"

Akito and Estelle both whipped out their cell phones.

"Please answer, please answer, please answer!" Vincent begged.

"Hello?" a voice asked over the line.

"Mom?!" Akito and Estelle answered.

"Oh, kids, good morning," Mo smiled. "I wish you guys told me that you were going to sleep in the RV. I'm trying to keep up with Betty, she's drank so much coffee, I'm worried she might speed us into another dimension or something."

"We are NOT IN THE RV!" LJ explained. "We got out a little earlier and we're still in New Mexico, but the other moms don't know even though I left a note!"

"WHAT?!" Mo gasped as he suddenly stopped her van in a panic, screeching her tires on the road.

"We're not hurt though, so-" Akito then said.

"Mommy's coming!" Mo cried out as she decided to turn herself around.

LJ sighed.

"Her reaction time is impressive." David replied.

"Mom's just full of surprises sometimes." Estelle smiled bashfully.

"I can live with surprises." David replied as Mo's van screeched to a halt nearby.

"Mrs. Fudo?" The Rugrats gang blinked.

"Get in here!" Mo told them. "All of you! Now!"

The others looked to each other and they soon got in the van.

"Now, I'm not mad, I'm just overwhelmed..." Mo said to them. "I think Mrs. DeVille had a little too much coffee, so she might've overlooked your note."

"I'm just glad you picked up when you did," LJ sighed. "Who KNOWS what would've happened?"

"I don't know if I can fully catch up with Mrs. DeVille, but I can sure try, can't I?" Mo smiled before driving off. "Fasten your seat-belts, sit back, relax, enjoy the ride, and thank you for choosing Fudo Mom Driveway!"

"Oh, brother." Chrissy mumbled slightly.

"I can dig it!" Theo replied as they buckled up.

* * *

Mo smiled as she drove them off back on the road. "Did I ever tell you kids about the time we were with Scooby-Doo and the gang in New Mexico?" she then prompted with a chuckle. "Oh, boy, that was quite chilling, no pun intended. We met with Shaggy's old friend, Jimmy Proudwolf and his pet dog, Shooby..."

"You don't say..." LJ grunted as he managed to stretch out.

Gaz eventually put on some music to tune out Mo.

"Oh, we've had so much fun with Shaggy and Scooby on their many adventures..." Mo smiled. "A really big surprise to me was that time we had to return to Zombie Island."

"Wait...RETURN?" LJ asked. "But why?"

"Uh..." Mo paused for a moment. "Hmm... That was a while ago... I'll have to ask your mother. She keeps track of all of our adventures."

"Oh. Okay." David replied.

"Her memory scares me sometimes..." Mo shuddered. "She could tell you what happened today exactly ten years ago."

"Cool!" Martin exclaimed.

They soon drove off together.

"That Coop kid was pretty interesting..." Dib commented from last night. "I wonder if we'll ever see him again?"

"Maybe..." Martin replied. "But he DID give me this weird disk," he held up a patchy-looking CD-ROM disk labeled "Romance Academy 7". "Said he found it at some pizza place in Oregon. You can have it, I guess."

Mo's eyes widened. "That name sounds familiar..." she muttered to herself.

"Cool, thanks, Martin." Dib replied.

"Eh, no problem." Martin replied before dozing off shortly after.

Mo shook chills all around her body as she continued to drive them to catch up with Betty's RV.


	6. Chapter 6

Everyone else dozed off except for LJ, who was gripped with insomnia for some reason.

Mo continued to drive a bit before looking in the rear-view mirror. "You okay, kiddo?" she then asked.

"Yeah, I just can't sleep, that's all..." LJ explained.

"Well, you wanna talk?" Mo smiled to him. "We got a long road ahead of us."

"Hmmm...okay," LJ shrugged. "My brain clearly has no intention of shutting off for the night."

"Your parents were a lot like that too sometimes," Mo said as she drove while talking to him. "Especially your mother. She was mostly awake at night. She fell asleep in class a couple of times, and almost missed our class trip to see the Sozin Comet up close."

"Sozin's Comet?" LJ asked. "Wow."

"Yes, it only appears every 100 years." Mo smiled.

"I see..." LJ replied.

"I'm so sorry you guys got left behind," Mo said. "Uh... Did you guys go somewhere last night while we were sleeping?" she then asked. "I mean... How else would Betty drive off without you?"

"Well...Tommy decided it'd be a good idea to scope out this cool natural sight in these geysers at the Red Rocks, but then we got left behind since the moms didn't know we weren't aboard." LJ explained.

"Hmm... I see..." Mo said. "So..." she then gave a small smirk. "Was it a lot more fun than boring World's Biggest Whatever in the Planet?"

"...yes." LJ replied simply.

"I'm sure it was," Mo chuckled. "You guys needed some kind of excitement. I don't blame ya for sneaking out on us."

"Definitely. I'm sorry, though," LJ replied. "For our actions resulting in all this happening."

"Aw, it's okay," Mo said. "Tommy and the others are at that age, and this trip has been a bit boring."

LJ nodded at that. "So...what was it like being a Planeteer?" he asked.

"Oh, it's pretty nice," Mo smiled. "I love visiting Hope Island when I'm needed, or just to visit Gaia. She's like another mother to me, especially when we all met her during high school after I found out Captain Planet was my uncle as strange as it might sound."

"When we went to the future, I found out he and that Zadavia lady got married and had two kids." LJ replied.

"Oh, yeah," Mo smiled. "Uncle Planet and Zadavia hooked up sometime after your cousins and big sister finished their adventures with the Loonatics. Though, I guess now she's my Aunt Zadavia."

"I see..." LJ nodded.

"Zadavia also sent out a portal to take Akito into Acmetropolis," Mo then said. "It was a normal day and Atticus was called out of town for a case. Turns out Zadavia trusted Akito to be the Loonatics' newest ally, and soon his brother and sister and your sister got interested in going with him later on. Eventually, Akito and Estelle started staying at the tower like his new home because Atticus was being secretive about what his latest case was about, and they later found out that he was actually helping Zadavia with her brother who was a villain at the time."

"Oh, right...Optimatus..." LJ replied, nodding.

"Atticus didn't want us to worry too much," Mo said. "It hurt Akito a bit though that during that time, his father was gone more than usual, and he really wanted to talk about the Loonatics, so he rebelled around then and decided to go with the bad guys for a while. Luckily, he grew out of it."

"Wow..." LJ realized, glancing down at his hands. "Guess there's a darkness in everyone..."

"Your mother often says though that there's a light in the darkness of everybody's life." Mo advised.

"...You think there might be one in me and I just don't know it yet?" LJ asked after a brief hesitation.

"Oh, LJ, is something bothering you?" Mo frowned in concern.

"Honestly...I'm kinda worried," LJ replied. "If half my family had moments in their lives where they went bad...what if it happened to me?"

"I'm sure you'll be all right," Mo said. "As long as you are forgiven and promise not to do it again. If you can believe it, Uncle Atticus had a lot of moments where he went evil."

"Boy, do I believe it," LJ replied. "Dad told me about this one time where Mom and Unc spent Halloween at the House of Mouse, so I zapped back in time there. Seeing somebody as nice as Uncle acting so unusually terrible was...nightmarish."

"I'm sure it was," Mo replied. "That House of Villains sounded like a nightmare for everybody, and not just Mickey and Minnie."

"No kidding..." LJ replied. "I could barely bring myself to even move. I just felt so helpless and mortified at that..."

"Ah... Sweetie..." Mo coaxed.

LJ just sighed.

* * *

Mo soon pulled up to the ranger's station.

"The rangers?" LJ asked.

"We might as well ask where the others are, but no worries, we got the best minivan you could ever ride in." Mo smiled.

LJ smiled and hugged her. "Well, that much is true." he replied.

Mo smiled back to him. Everyone else soon woke up and came out to see they were at the ranger's station.

"Duhhh... Let's go see Mr. Ranger, sir, eh, kids?" Mo smiled, deepening her voice to sound like Yogi Bear to make a joke.

"Eh, sure, Yogi." LJ played along, imitating Boo-Boo.

Mo giggled while Angelica rolled her eyes to that, but followed along as they came to the ranger's station.

"You're so silly, Mom." Estelle smiled.

"I suppose someone's got to be." Mo smirked.

They soon knocked on the door and a ranger came out to see them.

"Excuse me, we're sorry to bother you, but we need some help." Mo told the ranger.

"I see... What seems to be the problem?" The ranger replied.

"Well...it's a long story." LJ replied as they went into the ranger station.

The ranger let them inside and they soon told them everything. "So I see... You're far from your group, huh?" he then remarked. "Well, don't worry. We'll get to tracking down that RV."

"Thanks, sir." Mo smiled.

They soon came into the station to sit down and wait. Some of the others began to feel hungry since they hadn't anything to eat since sometime last night during the fiesta.

"Guys... I have something to tell you... This might change the way you look at me." Raul said.

"What's up?" Jenny replied.

"I, Raul Rivera... The man you all revere... Am in love..." Raul soon said to them.

"Okay, first of all, SOMEBODY got arrogant all of a sudden," David remarked. "The man you all revere? Puh-lease..."

Raul gave a small pout to that.

"So, you think you like that girl you met even though she annoyed you when we were told about The Book of Life a while back?" Zofia asked.

"...I guess... She's just... Pretty... And... Interesting now..." Raul said bashfully. "She's not like the other girls I've met."

"Yeah, she's interested in you." Jenny teased.

"I KNOW! IT FEELS SO WEIRD!" Raul exclaimed. "I just dunno how to handle that!"

"You'll be fine..." Zofia said as she held her stomach. "Mm... I am hungry..."

"Me too..." Vincent pouted. "I'm hungry, Mother, I really am."

"I'm sorry, Susie," Tommy sulked. "I know you worked really hard to sing in this parade."

"Don't sweat it, Tommy, we still got three days to get to New York," Susie smiled softly as she crossed her legs in one chair. "I'm not worried."

"Sure sounds like you're panicking on the inside." LJ replied.

"I'm fine! Really!" Susie smiled.

The others felt unsure about that as Susie looked to all of them.

"I thought you kids might be hungry," A Native American ranger said as he walked over with a pack of food for them. "I'm Ranger Wind Walking Little Feather, but you can call me 'Klaus'."

"How do you get 'Klaus' out of all that?" LJ asked in confusion.

"It's easier to program in the speed dial." The ranger smiled as he set down a pack of food for them.

"If you say so." Dib shrugged with a yawn.

"Um, Klaus, do you know where their moms are?" Tommy spoke up.

"I sent my guys looking out for the RV," Klaus replied as he then sat behind his desk. "It'd won't be hard to find something that butt ugly."

"True THAT." Martin replied.

Chuckie seemed to kiss Phil in his sleep as he was still stuck on kissing a girl he liked.

LJ chuckled at that. "Gee, Chuckie, I didn't know ya swung both ways!" he remarked.

Chuckie soon woke up and yelped once he saw what he was doing.

"Thank you for that." Phil grumbled slightly.

Theo shrugged. "At least THAT might be something to remember."

The telephone then rang and Klaus answered it.

Klaus then answered his phone once it rang. "Ranger Walking Wind-Erm... Klaus here..." he then waited a moment. "Yes, they're right here." he then held out the phone to Tommy.

"Hello?" Tommy spoke into the receiver.

"Tommy? Oh, thank heavens you're all right!" Didi replied. "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry, Mom," Tommy insisted. "Where are you?" he then looked to the others. "They're in Brunswick, Missouri!"

"Home of the Largest Pecan?" Klaus replied in shock.

"That's where they are-a giant nut?" LJ remarked. "Still lame..."

"When're you coming back for us?" Tommy then asked his mother on the other line. "A couple of days?! We'll never make it to New York in time for the parade!"

Susie groaned in misfortune as this sounded like doomsday for her.

"I'm not sure if I can drive us to Missouri fast enough." Mo said to the kids.

"Well, we're gonna be faster going by car than we would be on foot." LJ replied.

"You should go to Raton." Klaus suggested.

"Hold on, Mom," Tommy said before putting the phone down to ask the ranger a question. "Is Raton anywhere near where our moms are?"

"It's in the right direction, but you'd still have hundreds of miles." Klaus said as he took out a map.

"Still better than hoofing it..." Zofia replied.

"May I have that?" Mo asked about the map.

Klaus gave her a small smile and let her take it so that they could get back on track with the others.

* * *

"I guess we're HERE." Sara pointed out.

"Don't worry, kids, I don't know how long it'll take, but this is gonna be the most adventurous van ride of your life." Mo grinned once she got back into her car.

"Can do!" LJ replied as they buckled up.

Mo smiled as she soon adjusted her mirrors and soon drove off. "Thanks, Klaus!" she then called out on the way after they got settled in to go back on the road.

"You have that credit card number your mom gave us to buy tickets to Missouri?" Tommy asked Chuckie.

"Here it is," Chuckie smiled, handing him a paper. "Good as money, my man."

"Swanky!" Chrissy noted.

Tommy smiled and soon tucked the paper in his pocket for right now.

"All right, from Raton, we should get going over to Denver." Mo told the others as she checked the map.

"Then let's go-go-GO to Colorado!" Martin added.

"Get out your coats, kids, it's gonna be a little cold." Mo said.

The others nodded to that as they soon rode to the snowy grounds of Denver.


	7. Chapter 7

There were four boys in the snow in their coats, hats, and gloves waiting by a school bus stop as they made it into the next state.

"Those guys look familiar." LJ noted.

"Isn't school out?" Zofia commented as the boys were at a bus stop.

"Eh, must be different cuz it's a different state," LJ shrugged. "Either that or this is where they hang out."

The others shrugged to that until they stopped to get something to eat real quick. Sara smiled as she came to the snow and made a snowball before playfully hitting Martin with it, bringing back memories of when they first met.

Martin chuckled. "Major deja vu..."

"Couldn't help it," Sara giggled. "Oh, it's so good to play in the snow."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Martin blushed.

Sara smiled, blushing back a bit. Jenny looked over and gave a small smile to that, feeling happy for her brother. Martin smiled back at her. Akito, Estelle, and Vincent soon came out to check out the snow for themselves.

"This makes me think of Elsa and Anna." Vincent commented.

"Look, guys, I'm Olaf!" Estelle giggled as she made a snowman from hearing that.

LJ rolled his eyes. "Good grief..." he remarked.

"This snow reminds me of Balto..." Akito said before sighing softly with a small smile. "I miss him sometimes."

"I understand," LJ nodded. "But we'll never forget him."

After a while, they got back in the van to continue their travel.

"I'll get you guys to New York!" Mo told them. "I can do it!"

"We know you can," LJ replied. "We believe in you!"

"Yeah!" Everyone else cheered.

"Nothing can stop me now!" Mo beamed before laughing rather hysterically.

"Might not wanna jinx it like that." LJ suggested.

"Victory!" Mo called out.

The Fudo siblings looked bashful from their mother's behavior.

"Moms." Kimberly chuckled weakly to humor them.

"Yup..." LJ smirked, patting her.

Kimberly gave a small smile to him, laying her head on his shoulder. LJ blushed at that.

* * *

They soon came to where they needed to get some tickets to Missouri. Mo yawned and stretched a bit as she was a bit tired from driving, but she managed to stay awake. LJ eventually fell asleep near Kimberly.

"All right, Tommy, let's get that credit card number." Mo said with a small yawn.

"It's...2445673298..." Tommy replied.

"Good..." Mo smiled. "Let's get going then."

"To Minnesota!" Angelica called out.

"Missouri!" The others corrected.

"Whatever." Angelica shrugged.

And so the minivan kept right on driving. The kids were asleep again as they continued to go to Missouri and Mo let out a yawn as she was starting to get a little winded from driving for so long. Eventually, she pulled over to take a nap, but not before setting an alarm on her phone. She seemed to pull up into an Amish country, but fell asleep with the others and smiled once she got some rest.

* * *

Eventually, LJ woke up with a yawn. "Guess we pulled over to rest. Maybe there's a gas station nearby..." he pondered.

Everyone else slowly woke up, but Mo was still asleep.

"Mom?" Akito called, but he didn't get an answer back. "Oh, no... Mom's knocked out..."

"Should we wake her up?" Theo asked.

"I think we should just let her sleep." Akito suggested.

"Yeah, she HAS been driving for awhile." LJ replied.

Everyone soon came out of the van to stretch their legs.

"I miss Dora already!" Raul cried out. "Who knows if I'll ever see her again?"

"Calm your nads, bud," Martin replied. "You might see her again sooner than you think."

Raul glanced over to his cousins before looking around.

"Where are we?" Tommy asked.

"Looks like Amish Paradise," Vincent said. "Oh, well, at least Amish people are nice. We'll be fine here a while until Mom wakes up."

"And from there, we can make it to a gas station." Zofia added.

"Hey, while we're at the gas station, let's get some snacks for the road." Chrissy suggested.

"Good thinking!" LJ commended her.

Chrissy smiled to that. They soon went to the local gas station to get some food and drinks while Mo slept in the van. And they left decent payment before leaving...and LJ managed to pull the car closer to the gas station. Mo was still fast asleep.

"We are not getting separated again!" LJ told the others. "Do you hear me? DO YOU?!"

Everyone nodded simultaneously.

"Good!" LJ then smiled to that.

"You want some eggs with that ham?" Zofia teased.

"No thanks, I don't like pork." LJ replied.

"It's just an expression..." Zofia said. "Oh, well. I think these snacks should last us for the rest of the trip."

"If we're lucky." Dib added.

* * *

They soon came back to the van. Mo soon woke up and yawned and stretched, feeling much better once she got some sleep.

"Morning, Auntie Mo!" LJ waved.

"Hey, kids," Mo smiled. "I feel so much better now."

"Good," LJ replied. "We can get gas and cover some serious miles!"

"Okay, I'll pump up the gas real quick," Mo said. "I don't remember driving up here, but then again, I was a little hazy earlier."

"I pulled us here!" LJ replied.

"Oh, well, thank you, LJ, so helpful," Mo smiled and patted his head. "This'll only take a minute."

LJ grinned. "Oh-kay!" he replied.

Mo smiled and soon began to pump some gas. The others then relaxed with their snacks since they were back on track.

"Don't worry, Susie, we're gonna make it," Estelle smiled. "I just know it."

"I sure hope so." Susie sighed softly.

"Yeah, so calm down!" LJ replied. "We're more likely to cover more miles!"

"All right... I guess you guys have a point." Susie said to them.

"Sure we do!" Zofia smiled.

"Not like we've been wrong about these things before!" LJ added.

Susie gave a small smile to them as she ate her potato chips.

"Well, we got a good deal of time until we get to New York." Martin replied.

"I just don't wanna miss my chance," Susie frowned. "This is a big dream for me."

Angelica rolled her eyes a bit with the attention that Susie was getting.

"Hey, I get that," LJ replied. "We all wanna help you get there, and we will."

Susie gave a small smile to that. Mo soon came back into the van and they went back to riding down the road.

And Lil was still bouncing her soccer ball. "10,463... 10,464..." she continued.

Phil just rolled his eyes slightly to his twin sister.

"I wonder what our moms are doing right now?" Tommy sighed as he looked out to the road.

"Probably trying to get the RV's engine fixed..." Theo replied.

The others began to miss their own mothers.

"I bet if my mom was here, she'd have something to eat..." Lil said. "They always has something to eat when we're hungry."

"Or a sweatshirt if you're cold." Kimi added in.

"It's the verses," Phil stated. "Moms are like pack mules of love."

"You guys ever catch your mom sneaking in your room at night just to watch you sleep?" Dil frowned.

"Aw, kids..." Mo frowned softly to them.

"Ironic, huh?" Gaz asked. "A day ago you guys were griping about how you couldn't stand your moms coddling you, and now, you actually miss them..."

"I guess that's what they call development." Raul replied.

Gaz rolled her eyes slightly to that.

"You guys ever think what'd it be like not having a mom?" Lil commented.

"Been there... Done that..." Chuckie said softly.

"True." LJ nodded.

"I'm sorry, guys, this mess is all my fault," Tommy could only blame himself. "I wanted to prove something and now we'll never get to the Gracy's Day Parade in time. It couldn't get any worse."

Suddenly, from that, Mo's van seemed to break down and it now started to rain.

Tommy soon began to tear up as he couldn't take it anymore. "I... Want... My... MOMMY!"

"I haven't seen him cry like that in 11 years..." LJ sighed. "But I can't blame him."

"Oh, LJ!" Zofia cried before hugging him emotionally. "I miss Mother!"

"Hey, I miss Mom and Dad too, sis," LJ replied as he patted her on the back. "Why'dja think I've been trying to keep us from getting separated this whole trip?"

"I may speak a second language, but you're the smarter one." Zofia sighed softly.

"Hey, you're not dumb, Zo," LJ replied. "If anything, I been bottling up my emotions for most of the journey cuz I know I gotta look out for you and the others. But you know what they say, it's always darkest before the dawn!"

"Yes... That is true..." Zofia admitted.

"Kids, I'm so sorry!" Mo cried to them. "I tried so hard!"

"We know you did, Aunt Mo!" LJ sniffed, trying to keep from crying. "And we never lost faith in you, even if the universe decided to act like a tool!"

Mo soon hugged Akito, Estelle, and Vincent with a small sniffle.

"Oh, you preteens are pathetic!" Angelica scoffed before she then broke down and cried with them. "I want my mommy's credit card!"

Kimi soon came beside Angelica and hugged the blonde girl.

"I pr-promise we're all gonna b-be okay..." LJ vowed. "Kimberly...Chrissy...I'm s-sorry for all this..."

"Dang it, guys, stop crying!" Gaz said to them as she tried not to cry herself, but couldn't hold it in. "Oh, Dib!"

"Come here, Gaz, it's okay." Dib said, hugging his sister.

Everyone soon began to cry until they heard a familiar horn.

"That horn..." LJ blinked, rubbing his eyes. "Could it be...?"

* * *

Everyone soon looked over and saw a familiar RV coming down the road for them. The others then looked to her and saw that she was right as the RV was pulling up right next to them. Everyone then ran over and reunited with their mothers. This seemed to make the gray clouds break away and the sun glowed down on them as they were all happy now. Mo soon smiled tearfully with Akito, Estelle, and Vincent upon seeing that.

"See? What'd I tell you guys?" LJ asked with a shaky smile. "Always darkest before the dawn!"

Zofia gave LJ another hug. "I hug him first, girls!" she then giggled to Kimberly and Chrissy.

"Oh, Mom, I missed you!" Susie cried as she hugged her mother before kissing her cheek.

"Tommy, I'm so PROUD of you!" Didi beamed as she hugged Dil. "Look how far you came!"

"Ah, it was no big D." Tommy smirked before looking to his mother and hugging her right away.

Gaz stood nearby awkwardly, not sure if she should get involved or not.

"You okay, chica?" Raul asked Gaz.

"Sure," Gaz replied. "I just dunno if I should get involved. I don't even HAVE a mom of my own, anyway."

"Do what makes you feel comfortable." Zofia suggested.

Gaz shrugged to that as she looked away.

"Could we maybe get a lift?" Mo asked Betty. "My old van just broke down."

"Of course you can! We're all friends and family around here. Okay, guys, we've still got four states to cover if we're gonna get Susie to the parade in time!" Betty called.

Dib nodded at Gaz, who joined the hug after a brief moment of hesitation.

"Ah, the I Am Crud," Phil smiled. "No smell like home."

"Hold on, everybody!" Betty called out. "We're on Betty Time now!"

Everyone strapped in, and this time there was much less complaining.

"Nothing can possibly go wrong now." Akito smiled.

"What did I tell you about jinxing it?" LJ asked. "Everytime somebody says nothing can go wrong or it can't get any worse, or what could go wrong, the universe just LOVES to answer your question by making something horrible happen! Haven't you watched cartoons, man?"

"Try telling that to our dad," Vincent replied. "Your mom says our dad used to do that all the time."

A certain dog soon appeared to be in front of them.

"Pumpkin! Look out for Pumpkin!" Kimi cried out.

Betty yelped and swerved out of the way and accidentally crashed against a telephone pole. Luckily, no one was hurt. Unluckily however...

"They can't get anyone out here tonight," Betty said after she called for help. "What with being the day before Thanksgiving. It just doesn't look like we'll make it in time."

"Aaaaand JINXED," LJ groused. "Just when things were looking up, too."

"Hey, you don't know, something might happen positively." Akito shrugged.

"Like what?!" Chrissy glared slightly.

"Please don't fight..." Theo frowned.

* * *

A big black stretch limo soon drove off before coming up right beside them before stopping and the window rolled down to show an adult couple which were a redheaded woman and a brown-haired man.

"We need a ride to New York and you gonna get us there!" Angelica demanded.

"New York?" The redheaded woman smiled. "We're on our way there now!"

"Ooh, coinky-dinks!" LJ hugged Kimberly and Chrissy. "We're SAVED!"

"Thank you... Uh..." Kimberly said.

"Natalie! Gregory!" Vincent gasped once he saw the couple.

"Oh, Vincent, my boy, so good to see you." The man smiled to him.

"Vince, you know these people?" Theo asked.

Akito and Estelle soon saw who it was and recognized them too.

"These are Jenny's parents!" Vincent smiled.

"Jenny? That's the girl you talked so highly of, right?" LJ asked.

"Uh... Yeah... That's her." Vincent replied while blushing.

"Somebody's getting sweaty." Zofia teased.

They soon all got in the limo and drove off to New York City at long last and came to stay at one of the best hotels in the whole city.


	8. Chapter 8

A young blonde woman soon came out and hugged Akito, Estelle, and Vincent once they came over and she appeared to be pregnant and she brought out someone their age with her who was also blonde before she hugged them as well.

"All right, everyone else, this is Eloise and her big sister Giselle," Vincent introduced. "They live here in the hotel with Nanny."

"Bonjour~" Eloise smiled, practicing her French.

"Hello, there." Giselle added, sounding like she had an English accent.

"Hi there!" LJ waved.

"Eloise, do you think you could have us booked in some rooms?" Mo asked.

"Oh, excamont!" Eloise smiled to that. "Um, if Giselle can find anything with Mr. Salamone anyway. She helps him a lot in the lobby."

"I'm sure I can find some rooms for you guys," Giselle smiled as she came to behind the computer. "It's lovely to meet all of you."

Eloise smiled to her big sister as she leaned her elbow against the desk with the five stars which ranked the hotel.

"Who's that little girl?" Theo asked, seeing a portrait of a little girl with blonde hair in a pink hair ribbon, a white blouse, black suspenders with a short skirt, white socks that went up to her knees with black Mary Janes, and she appeared to hold a turtle in her hands and beside her was a brown pug dog.

"Oh, uh, that's actually me from when I was six," Eloise smiled bashfully. "I have a rather big reputation in this hotel."

LJ smirked. "So I've been told..."

"For what you've been through and to ride all the way over here for so long, the parade would like to award you with luxury suites on us." Giselle smiled as she handed them all a key to a very special room.

"Just remember, you guys," Eloise smiled. "If you want any room service, you can always charge it to me, Eloise."

Akito, Estelle, and Vincent smiled back as that brought back memories.

"Really? Thanks!" LJ beamed.

"Oh, Nanny will be so happy, happy, happy to hear that you're here," Eloise smiled to the others. "Mother would be too, but... She had to go to Miami Beach for an emergency photo shoot."

Giselle seemed to roll her eyes behind her little sister.

"Giselle... Are you... Pregnant?" Akito asked in surprise.

"You've discovered my secret." Giselle smiled.

"Oh." LJ replied. "Well...congratulations."

"Thank you," Giselle smiled. "And thank you for choosing the lovely and luxurious Plaza Hotel!"

They all soon left and soon went to go to their new rooms.

"If you guys wanna hang out, we're on the tippy top floor!" Eloise called out. "If we're not there, we're all over the hotel! Just ask the Fudos!"

"Somehow, I figured they'd be involved..." LJ shrugged, before glancing out a window.

"Ugh... Finally..." Zofia sighed as she passed out onto a bed. "So soft... So sweet... Such relief!"

LJ sighed as he collapsed onto the adjacent bed. "See, everyone?...we...made it..."

"Thank goodness too..." Chrissy sighed. "I feel like I could just take a 14 hour nap."

"Same..." Kimberly agreed as she flopped down next to LJ.

Raul seemed to already be asleep once he found a bed for himself. And half of the group had followed suit.

"Yeah, Cherry, we're all okay," Mo smiled on the phone. "Thank you so much for calling, that was nice of you."

"I do what I can." Cherry smirked.

"Glad to hear it," Mo replied. "Most of the kids are catching Z's, other than the ones who already slept."

"I'd imagine so," Cherry said. "Sounds like you guys had quite an adventure on the road. Also, thanks for getting LJ, David, and Zofia to safety. Now I don't have to eat ya."

"...Very funny." Mo narrowed her eyes.

"Mm-mm! Vegan blood." Cherry smirked.

"Don't even joke like that." Lionel replied playfully.

"Oh, brother." Mo sighed to them slightly.

"Still...thank you, Mo." Lionel continued.

"No problem," Mo smiled. "Thanks for letting me have them."

"No problem." Lionel smiled back.

"I just wish Atticus could've been here," Mo said. "Hopefully he'll be home when we come home."

"Hey, maybe he WILL be, and so will we." Lionel replied.

"So good to hear from you guys," Mo smiled. "It feels like old times."

"Ah, it sure does!" Lionel agreed.

"We'll be sure to look out for the parade." Cherry said.

"Okay... Sounds good, guys." Mo smiled to them.

"And we'll see you when we get back!" Lionel added.

"See you then," Mo smiled. "Good night to you guys."

"Night." Cherry and Lionel said before hanging up.

"Wow..." LJ gulped. "Everyone looks like ants from up here..."

"You're not gonna freak out, are you?" Zofia asked her brother.

"Nah...it's just kinda breathtaking." LJ replied.

Zofia soon came beside him with a small smile. "Mm... It is a nice view..." she had to admit. "This must be what it's like to fly."

"We've flown before," LJ replied. "Remember?"

"Yeah, I know," Zofia smiled. "I guess it's just the view."

Akito smiled as he waved to them while flying in the air.

"Akito Benjamin Fudo, you get down on the ground before someone sees you!" Mo scolded.

"Aw, Mom..." Akito groaned before he got back on the ground.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I don't want you to get in trouble." Mo said.

"Fair enough, I guess..." Akito sighed with a shrug. "Too bad Metro Man doesn't wanna be a superhero anymore. I'd like to race him."

"Geez, you are SO competitive." LJ remarked.

"Can't help it," Akito smirked. "I'm awesome."

"Don't forget humble." Zofia replied.

"Of course." LJ rolled his eyes.

Akito smiled sheepishly to them. "So, Susie's big moment..." he then said to change the subject to show excitement for their friend.

"Yeah, it's gonna be great." LJ replied.

Mo gave a small smile to that.

"Just think, we know someone who'll be in a parade." Zofia smiled.

A flag soon came out of a window from the top floor of the hotel.

"What the-?" LJ asked.

"Huh?" Akito replied before seeing what he saw. "Oh, that must be Eloise's flag so that the parade will see her, Giselle, and Nanny."

"Okay...first time for everything." LJ replied.

"Um... Where are Eloise's parents?" Zofia asked. "Do they know what she's doing?"

"Eloise's mother is in Miami Beach right now." Akito said.

"Oh..." The two replied.

"We visit pretty often..." Akito smiled bashfully. "Eloise is like family by now."

"Aw, that's sweet." LJ replied.

* * *

Everyone soon began to freshen up while Susie practiced her song. Though Dib was kinda curious about the disk he'd gotten, so he tried to play it using his laptop. The game glowed a bit and he put on his headphones so he wouldn't bother the others. A "Year 2000 Electronics" logo appeared on the monitor.

"Wow, this seems outdated..." Dib noted.

The monitor showed the main menu for 'Romance Academy 7', the options are "Start," "Quit," and "Shizenhakka".

Dib then soon started the game, obviously. 'When the cherry petals of Magic Romance Academy are in bloom, anything can happen.' The intro text said after Dib started the game. The game screen changes to one with a classroom background and some stats on the left. A pink-haired girl appears.

"Oh, hi there! My name is .GIFfany," The pink-haired girl spoke to Dib. "I'm a schoolgirl at School University. Will you help me carry my books?"

"Um...okay..." Dib replied, clicking 'yes'.

The game awards him 100 "Love Points" as coins and a cat falls in front of the screen.

"Alright, seems easy enough," Dib replied to himself. "This game IS pretty cool."

Gaz stared out the window as she began to think about something that made her feel rather emotional.

Theo sat down nearby. "You alright, Gaz?" he asked.

"I'm just thinking a little..." Gaz said softly.

"About...?" Theo asked.

"I'm not sure if you would even understand." Gaz replied.

"Lay it on me," Theo shrugged. "This is about not having a mom, right?"

"...Yeah." Gaz soon confessed to him since he was right.

"I figured." Theo replied calmly.

Gaz looked to him before looking back out the window.

"Um... I never knew my own father..." Theo said as he tried to help perk her up.

"Guess we're in similar boats..." Gaz replied.

"Yeah... I guess..." Theo said as he stood with her. "I'm sorry... This trip didn't bother you, did it?"

"Well... Actually... I mostly came because I wanted to see what it would be like to have a mom..." Gaz said. "I might seem like a blank slate where nothing bothers me, but... It actually hurts me inside to never know my mother. Plus, LJ and Zofia are my friends, so I came because of them too."

"Well...for what it's worth, you seem pretty cool." Theo replied.

"Hm... Thanks, I try." Gaz said to him as she continued to stare out the window.

"No problem." Theo replied.

Gaz nodded to him as she gazed out the window a bit.

* * *

It was now about time to get ready for the parade as it was finally the big day that everyone had been waiting for. Everyone got ready and headed out to see the parade, as well as watch Susie's big moment. The other parade floats came on by down the road as people gathered around downtown to see it up close.

"I can't believe at the entire United States at our feet, you couldn't get one girl to kiss ya." Phil said to Chuckie.

"Ah, don't feel so bad, Phil; I decided it's not that important," Chuckie replied. "I mean, after all the exciting stuff we've done the past couple of days, kissing a girl just doesn't seem like that big a deal anymore."

"That's the spirit, dude." David replied.

"Thanks, I suppose." Chuckie said with a soft and small smile.

"Now let's enjoy the parade!" David resolved as he turned back to see it.

A girl in a Santa dress soon walked up to Chuckie and kissed him on the cheek.

"Ooohhh!" The others gushed to that.

"I didn't realize we were visiting the Tanners." Vincent joked from that reaction with the kiss which seemed to always happen in the Tanner household.

"Good grief, Vince." LJ shrugged.

"What? They do that all the time, especially when Jesse married Becky..." Vincent said. "At least, that's what Dad told us from that story."

"Eh, I'll take your word for it." LJ shrugged.

"That's what we did." Vincent shrugged back with a small smile.

The cheese float soon came by and Susie was waving, dressed like a mouse.

"Clever," LJ remarked. "A bit outdated, but hey."

"Could've been worse," Zofia said. "Could've been Freddy Fazbear."

"How would that have even BEEN related to cheese?" LJ asked.

"...It's called a joke because Susie is in an animal costume?" Zofia glanced at her brother.

"Whatever," LJ shrugged. "I was talking about the costume cuz it was supposed to reference how mice like cheese."

Zofia rolled her eyes as she soon took a drink from her water bottle. Everyone else soon cheered once they saw Susie on the parade float.

"This one's for Tommy!" Susie announced which made the boy smile bashfully.

"Way to go, man!" LJ grinned.

The music soon began and Susie then sang her song for the crowd about Cheese, and everyone enjoyed it thoroughly. No one seemed to enjoy it more than Lucy though as she looked very happy and proud of her daughter. To put it simply, the parade went off without a hitch.

"This was well worth the drive!" Didi beamed as she did a little dance, bumping a trash can down onto the road.

A man on stilts soon tried to avoid the rolling trash can before a woman balancing on a ball yelped before nearly getting run over by the Thanksgiving turkey float.

"Funny how nobody noticed that..." Dib commented as a few sparks came from his phone, due to .GIFfany transferring herself inside of it. "What the...?!"

.GIFfany soon came out in front of him with a cheerful and cute, innocent smile.

"Whoa! .GIFfany! How'd you get into my phone?" Dib asked in shock.

The others looked over to Dib as he seemed to be going through something.

"I missed you." .GIFfany smiled to him.

"Really? Nobody's ever said that in a context that didn't mean they tried to throw something at my head." Dib replied.

"I would never do that to you." .GIFfany smiled to him.

"Oh..." Dib blushed. "Thanks, .GIFfany..."

"You're welcome..." .GIFfany giggled to him.

Dib blushed at that.

"Every time you compliment me I get another highlight in my eyes!" .GIFfany told him.

"Well, um, you have beautiful eyes!" Dib soon smiled. "So sparkly!"

Her eyes became more and more highlighted.

"You seem to be on your phone more than usual." Gaz said as she came to her brother.

"Oh, it's nothing." Dib replied with a smile.

"Mm-hmm..." Gaz said as if she didn't believe that, which she didn't. "Anyway, uh, that Eloise kid said we could eat Thanksgiving dinner with her and her family in Palm Court from the hotel. You want in on this?"

"Oh. That could be cool," Dib replied. "And Sis...I get that you're bummed out over not having a mom, but I promise, things are gonna get better."

"Hmm... I'm not fully certain on that, but thanks, Dib," Gaz replied. "I needed that from my big brother."

"No problem," Dib replied. "Might as well start acting like it. Besides, we're basically old enough to move out."

"Yeah... I suppose that's a good point," Gaz replied. "I'm still trying to look for a good enough place to call my own."

"Maybe I could help?" Dib asked.

"I guess... If ya want..." Gaz gave a small smirk.

"What're big brothers for?" Dib smiled to her.

"Hm..." Gaz kept her smirk. "Don't make me answer that with a straight face."

* * *

After the parade, they soon went inside to have some Thanksgiving dinner.

"You guys can eat whatever you want because my mother knows Chef Todd." Eloise told the guests.

"Awesome!" LJ replied.

Everyone soon took a quick prayer and they then began to eat their Thanksgiving dinner after having a big adventure on the road.

"Man...this is most excellent!" LJ exclaimed as he ate.

"What a wonderful meal!" Theo smiled. "It's even great with all of us being together!"

"Almost like a family." Martin added.

"In a way, we're all kind of like a family." Raul commented.

"Dude, we basically ARE a family." Sara replied.

"That's almost so sweet." Cherry said as she soon walked in with Lionel.

"Mother!" Zofia beamed before she soon ran over and hugged her mother.

"Told you we'd be back!" Lionel replied.

LJ and David soon came with their sister to see their parents again.

"Not just them." Atticus smiled as he also came out.

"Oh, Atticus, darling!" Mo smiled back to her husband.

"Dad!" The Fudo siblings beamed.

"Great to see you, dude!" Lionel beamed.

"Good to see ya too," Atticus smiled. "Whatya say we get some of that turkey?"

"Help yourself, guys," Lee smiled back as he held Estelle in his arm. "There's plenty to go around."

"Aw, thanks, Lee." Atticus smiled to his daughter's boyfriend.

"Eh, I'm not a turkey fan," LJ replied. "I'm into chicken lasagna instead."

"Luckily your father made some before we left." Cherry smirked.

"Double awesome!" LJ and David whooped.

"I know how you boys love it, so I thought you'd like some for once we came home and had Thanksgiving." Cherry smiled.

"Aw, Mom, you're the best." David said as he hugged her leg.

"Yeah!" LJ agreed as he hugged both her and Lionel.

Cherry and Lionel gave smiles to each other as they had some Thanksgiving dinner with their family.

Eventually, they finished their dinner and cleaned up.

"So, you're going back home then?" Giselle asked as she held her stomach.

"It's probably for the best," Cherry said. "We all had a big adventure, not to mention the kids with their Rugrat friends."

"And this way we can see their journey with them!" Lionel replied.

"It was nice seeing you," Giselle smiled. "Get back home safe, okay? Also, tell that Susie Carmichael my congratulations."

"We will!" LJ replied.

* * *

And with that, they soon left the hotel and began to leave New York City to go back home where they belonged.

Raul took out a picture he had of Dora, missing her already and looked out the window on the way home. "I wonder if I'll ever see her again?" he let out a small sigh as he felt like he was in love with her now.

"It's a small world, my friend," LJ replied. "So...probably!"

"You really think so?" Raul gave a small hopeful smile.

"I know so." David replied.

"Wow... Thanks, guys..." Raul gave a small smile. "Who knew someone so annoying would grow up to look so pretty?"

The others rolled their eyes slightly before sharing a small laugh as they had a long way back home.

The End


End file.
